Biological Sciences Colloquium: Dr. Chris Quinn

Dr. Chris Quinn of UW-Milwaukee will present a talk about his work entitled, “Harnessing human genetics to investigate the development and degeneration of axons in C. elegans.”

The abstract is as follows:

“Genome sequencing studies have generated a list of de novo variants that are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and intellectual disability. However, little is known about how variants in these genes can disrupt neuronal cell biology to cause defects in neurodevelopment. Our laboratory is using these variants to uncover novel mechanisms that regulate neuronal development in C. elegans. In the first part of this talk, I will focus on our work with the RBM-26(RBM26/27) RNA binding protein. We found that mutations in rbm-26 cause mitochondrial dysfunction, axon degeneration and axon targeting defects. Mechanistically, we discovered that RBM-26 negatively regulates the MALS-1 mitoribosomal assembly factor and that this interaction is required to protect against axon degeneration and axon targeting defects. In the second part, I will talk about the anc-1 ortholog of SYNE1, which has been associated with autism and bipolar disorder. We have found that mutations in anc-1 disrupt the polarization of axon growth by disrupting the localization of mitochondria within the neuron. These studies highlight the roles that autism-associated genes can play in promoting mitochondrial function and how disruptions in these processes can lead to the defects in neurodevelopment that underlie autism.”

The presentation will begin at 4:00 PM in Lapham Hall N101, preceded by an informal reception from 3:45 – 4:00 PM.