學術講座080625

    Dr Xu Xiaohua got his Bachelor’s degree in 1993 from Weifang Medical College majored in Clinical Medicine, got his Ph. D in 2003 from Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Science. During his Ph. D study, he spent about 1 year in the Department of Biocheminstry, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology as a visiting scholar. Then he moved to University of Minnesota to have his postdoctoral training in the Department of Neuroscience. During his Ph. D. study, he mainly worked on growth cone guidance using African clawed frog as a model system. His work for the first time demonstrated that agrin mediates growth cone guidance of Xenopus spinal motor neurons.  He will talk to us about the organization of growth cone transition domain by actin filament-associated protein.

The organization of growth cone transition domain by actin filament-associated protein

Xu Xiaohua Ph. D.

University of Minnesota

Abstract

      Growth cone guidance and neurite elongation require the dynamic, coordinated regulation of the actin cytoskeleton. As the growth cone moves, actin-dependent forces generate tension that enables protrusive activity in the periphery and drives growth cone translocation. In many cell types, this dynamic remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton in response to membrane tension requires activation of Src kinase and protein kinase C (PKC). However, the identity of the cross-linking protein(s) in the growth cone remains unknown. The actin filament-associated protein, AFAP, was originally identified in Src kinase transformed fibroblast with the ability to crosslink actin. Dr. Xu’s study indicated that AFAP is enriched in the growth cone transition domain in an actomyosin dependant way. He will address how AFAP organizes growth cone and its function in neuronal differentiation.

地址：太阳集团1088vip實驗大樓三樓會議室

時間：2008年6月25日星期三下午 2：30

歡迎學院師生踴躍參加。