Developmental Neuroscience - Regeneration

Current Neuro-development projects involve:

Investigation of glial-neuronal interactions in the developing nervous system.
Elucidation of spinal cord radial glial cell development and determination of the lineage relationships among different types of neuroepithelial cells in the spinal cord.
Gene expression profiling in neuroepithelial stem and progenitor cells during development and in the adult CNS to elucidate mechanisms underlying fate decisions, differentiaton and phenotypic diversity.
Spatial and temporal patterns of oligodendrogliogenesis and myelination in vivo.
Investigation of the expression of the neurotrophic proteins GDF5 and GDNF, their receptors and intracellular signalling mechanisms in the developing and adult brain.
Examination of the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons, including gene expression profiling using microarray technology and studies on phenotypic changes which occur during specification, maturation and differentiation of these neurons.
Investigation of the effect of inflammation on neurogenesis in the embryonic and adult hippocampus.
Elucidation of the migration patterns of newly generated astrocytes and oligodendrocytes

Developmental Neuroscience - Regeneration recent publications

Dmitriev RI, Zhdanov AV, Nolan YM, Papkovsky DB. (2013) Imaging of neurosphere oxygenation with phosphorescent probes. Biomaterials 34: 9307-9317
Hegarty, S.V., O'Keeffe, G.W., Sullivan, A.M. (2013) BMP-Smad 1/5/8 signalling in the development of the nervous system. Prog Neurobiol.109; 28-41. PMID: 23891815
Hegarty, S.V., Sullivan, A.M., O'Keeffe, G.W. (2013) BMP2 and GDF5 induce neuronal differentiation through a Smad dependant pathway in a model of human midbrain dopaminergic neurons.Mol Cell Neurosci. 56: 263-271. PMID: 23831389
Hegarty, S.V., Sullivan, A.M., O'Keeffe, G.W. (2013) Midbrain dopaminergic neurons: A review of the molecular circuitry that regulates their development. Dev Biol. 379:123-38. PMID: 23603197