Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering Research Project Write-up Title of Project : Growth Factor Receptor Signaling and Biology in Nervous System Development and Metabolic Regulation Name of Supervisor : Carlos Ibanez Contact Details: [email protected] Short Description With a focus on growth factor receptor signalling, the aim of this research is to discover novel, general biological principles and mechanisms important for nervous system development and metabolic regulation. We plan to concentrate the main thrust of our future work on two programmes that complement and expand current areas of expertise. The first one focuses on the mechanisms of action and biological activities of the death receptor p75NTR (p75 neurotrophin receptor), and reflects our continued interest in neuronal growth factors, their signalling mechanisms and their potential for the development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and neurotrauma. This is a program that involves signal transduction studies, mouse genetics approaches, and a drug discovery effort to identify novel p75NTR inhibitors. The second program focuses on the role of a novel regulatory network, formed by members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF- ) superfamily and their receptors, in the control of glucose homeostasis, fat accumulation and energy balance. It is based on our original discovery of the TGF- superfamily receptor ALK7 and our recent studies on the functions of activin signalling through ALK7 and ALK4 in pancreatic islets, adipose tissue, and hypothalamus. This program offers a new inroad to the study of metabolic regulation and involves complementary studies in cell culture as well as conditional and knock-in mouse models.