Johan Ericson

Group members:
Johan Ericson, group leader
Zhanna Alekseenko, postdoc
Elisabet Andersson, senior scientist
Joanna Applequist, PhD stud
Qiaolin Deng, PhD stud
Jose M Dias, PhD stud
Mattias Karlén, PhD stud
Sanja Kurdija, PhD stud
Tony Oosterveen, postdoc
Christopher Uhde, PhD stud

JOHAN ERICSON
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB)
Johan.Ericson@ki.se

Neuronal fate determination in the developing central nervous system.

The general theme of our research is directed at understanding general mechanisms that control the formation of cell diversity in the developing central nervous system (CNS). Different types of neurons are born at specific positions and at defined time-points in the developing CNS, and a central goal in the laboratory is to reveal the molecular mechanisms that control spatial and temporal aspects of neuronal fate specification. In this work, we are trying to identify signalling molecules and transcription factors that dictate the generation of specific neuronal subtypes in the developing neural tube.

Our studies focus on the development of the spinal cord and brainstem, the simplest and best understood subdivisions of the CNS. Nevertheless, general principles that emerged from studies of neuronal determination at these axial levels appear to operate in a similar fashion in other, more complex, regions of the brain. In a long perspective, our studies are also aimed at characterising molecular pathways that control late aspects of neuronal differentiation, controlling the functional properties of neurons and the establishment of functional neuronal circuits. We are also examining if determinants that control the generation of clinically relevant neurons during embryonic development can be used as tools in the development of stem cell-based replacement therapies for neuro-degenerative disorders such as ALS and Parkinson’s disease.

5 SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Andersson E., Tryggvason U., Deng Q., Friling S., Alekseenko Z., Robert B., Perlmann T.*, and Ericson J.* (2006) Identification of intrinsic determinants of midbrain dopamine neurons. Cell 124, 393-405.
*Co-senior authors

Vallstedt A., Klos J., and Ericson J. (2005) Multiple dorsoventral origins of oligodendrocyte generation in the spinal cord and hindbrain. Neuron 45, 55-67.

Pattyn A., Vallstedt A., Dias J.M., Samad O.A., Krumlauf R., Rijli F.M., Brunet J.F., and Ericson J. (2003) Coordinated temporal and spatial control of motor neuron and serotonergic neuron generation from a common pool of CNS progenitors. Genes Dev. 17, 729-37.

Vallstedt A., Muhr J., Pattyn A., Andersson E., Pierani A., Mendelsohn M., Sander M., Jessell T.M., and Ericson J. (2001) Different levels of repressor activity assign redundant and specific roles to Nkx6 genes in motor neuron and interneuron specification. Neuron 31, 743-755.

Muhr J., Andersson E., Persson M., Jessell T.M., and Ericson J. (2001) Groucho-mediated transcriptional repression establishes progenitor cell pattern and neuronal fate in the ventral neural tube. Cell 104, 861-73.

LINKS:

For more information, please visit our lab website.