Neurodevelopment and translation control

Kraushar Lab

We aim to discover a logic of brain development, evolution, and disease that is encoded by gene expression.

The brain is built during prenatal development by highly evolved gene expression programs. Our focus is an evolutionarily recent brain region in mammals, the neocortex. We adapt cutting-edge technologies to analyze this complex developmental system, with the goal of visualizing gene expression in action at high resolution. Many of our investigations focus on mRNA translation by the ribosome - an ancient molecular complex that has expanded its structure and function during evolution. The developing brain is particularly sensitive to abnormal ribosome translation activity, which can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders. 

We focus on how translation regulation expands neuronal diversity and patterns brain circuits.

mRNA translation is particularly regulated in neurons, where the ribosome localizes, amplifies or suppresses, and precisely times protein output - the final step of gene expression. We track how the activity of transcription in the nucleus is synchronized with translation in the cytoplasm during neurodevelopment and disease.

Our approach is highly multidisciplinary for analysis at all scales, from molecules to organisms across millions of years of evolution. Our tools include bench and bioinformatics analysis of RNA and protein chemistry, transcriptomics, ribosome profiling, SILAC proteomics, click chemistry, and high-resolution imaging – including light and electron microscopy.