INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF MLLT11 IN SUBVENTRICULAR ZONE NEUROGENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE OLFACTORY BULB

Abstract

Neurogenesis is the process of generating new neurons in developing and adult brains. This process imparts plasticity to the mammalian brain by allowing novel connections to form and replacing damaged neurons. In later stages of development, only a handful of neurogenic niches remain active including the sub-ventricular zone and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. My thesis work has focused on the function of a novel gene called Mllt11 in postnatal neurogenesis. It encodes a 90 amino acid protein recently implicated in the maturation of neuronal precursors and transition to post-mitotic neurons. The role Mllt11 in the regulation of neurogenesis from the subventricular (SVZ) regions abutting the mouse olfactory bulb was explored using conditional loss-of-function mutagenesis to excise the Mllt11 gene within the precursors that contribute to SVZ neurogenesis. Given that recent work from the lab revealed that Mllt11 interacts with stabilized microtubules, I hypothesized that it is required to maintain the appropriate connections between precursor cells and their niche environment surrounding the SVZ.