Gene Expression Group

Thomas Perlmann  Ph.D., Professor, Member

The development of the CNS is dependent on signaling pathways that converge on specifically expressed transcription factors. We are interested in mechanisms important for how stem cells develop into specific neuronal types. Our research has focused on transcription factors and signaling pathways involved in the development of dopamine neurons. Understanding how neural stem cells differentiate has implications for cell replacement therapy in Parkinson's disease. Moreover, the elucidation of how normal stem cells differentiate in the developing CNS relates to the processes that are abnormally regulated in cancer initiating stem cells.

The Group

• Hedlund, Eva  Research Associate
  
• Holmberg, Johan  Research Associate
  
• Joodmardi, Eliza  Senior Technician
  
• Kadkhodaei, Banafsheh  Ph.D. Student
  
• Kee, Nigel  Ph.D. Student
  
• Laguna, Ariadna  Postdoctoral Fellow
  
• Leung, Chuen-Yan  Student
  
• Malewicz, Michal  Research Associate
  
• Mong, Jamie  Ph.D. Student
  
• Nyman, Ulrika  Postdoctoral Fellow
  
• Panman, Lia  Postdoctoral Fellow
  
• Volakakis, Nikolas  Ph.D. Student
  

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
• Wallén-Mackenzie Å., Mata de Urquiza A., Petersson S., Rodriguez F.J., Friling S., Wagner J., Ordentlich P., Lengqvist J., Heyman R.A., Arenas E., and Perlmann T. (2003) Nurr1-RXR heterodimers mediate RXR ligand-induced signaling in neuronal cells. Genes Dev. 17, 3036-47.
• Wang Z., Benoit G., Liu J., Prasad S., Aarnisalo P., Liu X., Xu H., Walker P.C., and Perlmann T. (2003) Structure and function of Nurr1 reveals a novel class of ligand-independent nuclear receptors. Nature 423, 555-560.
• Joseph B., Wallén-Mackenzie Å., Benoit G., Murata T., Joodmardi E., Okret S., and Perlmann, T. (2003) p57kip2 cooperates with Nurr1 in developing dopamine cells. Proc Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100, 51619-151624.
• Mata de Urquiza A., Liu S., Sjöberg M., Zetterström R., Griffiths W., Sjövall J., and Perlmann T. (2000) Docosahexaenoic acid, a ligand for the retinoid X receptor in the mouse brain. Science 290, 2140-2144.

Theses

• On Retinoid Receptors, Nurr1 And Related Transcription Factors In the CNS. Rolf H Zetterström 20-May-1998
• Nuclear Hormone Receptor Signaling In the Developing CNS. Studies On the Retinoid Receptors RAR And RXR, And the Orphanreceptors Nurr1, NOR1 And NGFI-B. Ludmila Solomin 10-Sep-1999
• Functional Studies On the Orphan Receptor Nurr1 And Related Retinoid Receptors. Diogo Sampaio E Castro 26-Jan-2001
• Finding the Ligand: Retinoid Receptor Activation In the CNS. Alexander Mata De Urguiza 6-Sep-2001
• Some Aspects of Nuclear Receptor Function In the CNS. Novel Roles of Nurr1 And RXR In Developing And Mature Neurons. Åsa Wallén 4-Oct-2002
• Studies On the Nuclear Receptor Nurr1 –Indentification of Nurr1 –Regulated Genes. Elisabeth Hermansson 18-May-2004
• Functional Studies On the Nuclear Receptor Nurr1. Mariette Nordzell 19-May-2004
• Native Proteinmass Spectrometry of Nuclear Receptor – Ligand And Enzyme Substrate Complexes. Johan Lengqvist 26-Nov-2004