Kamal Sharma
Associate Professor
Department of Neurobiology
The University of Chicago
947 E. 58th St., MC0926
Chicago, IL 60637
Email: ksharma@bsd.uchicago.edu
Phone: (773) 834- 5898
Office: Jules Knapp Research Center, Rm. 218
Research Summary
Genetic analysis of the spinal motor circuits.
Research Statement
Our goal is to understand principles underlying the development of motor circuits1. We use gene expression to define classes of interneurons in the embryonic and adult nervous system. Once a gene is identified as a unique marker for a class of neurons, we target that locus using homologous recombination in the mouse embryonic stem cells. This approach allows us to generate transgenic mice in which a defined class of neurons expresses fluorescent markers for mapping its projections and identifying its synaptic partners. We also use transgenic methods to selectively ablate, silence or activate select neurons in the embryonic or adult mice. The goal of these studies is to determine the function of these neurons in motor control. We evaluate motor functions using a variety of electrophysiological and behavioral assays. Thus far we have studied the development2 and functions3, 4 of a class of neurons called the V2a interneurons. These neurons are glutamatergic and are characterized by the expression of a homeodomain transcription factor Chx10.
Select Publications
Chian-Yu Peng, Hiroshi Yajima, Caroline Erter Burns, Leonard I. Zon, Sangram S. Sisodia, Samuel L. Pfaff, Kamal Sharma. (2007) Notch and MAML regulate Scl-dependent Interneuron Cell Fate in the Spinal Cord. Neuron. 53, 813-827.
Highlighted in Faculty of 1000
Wang, L., Sharma, K., Deng, H.X., Siddique, T., Grisotti, G., Liu, E., and Roos, R.P. (2008). Restricted expression of mutant SOD1 in spinal motor neurons and interneurons induces motor neuron pathology. Neurobiol Dis 29, 400-408
Crone, S.A., Quinlan, K.A., Zagoraiou, L., Droho, S., Restrepo, C.E., Lundfald, L., Endo, T., Setlak, J., Jessell, T.M., Kiehn, O., and Sharma, K. (2008). Genetic ablation of V2a ipsilateral interneurons disrupts left-right locomotor coordination in mammalian spinal cord. Neuron 60, 70-83
