Scott Hutton, Ph.D. Post-Doctoral Fellow UNC Neuroscience Center shutton@med.unc.edu

My work in the lab focuses on the role of SOX2 in the developing and adult brain.  The embryonic and adult central nervous systems (CNS) harbor heterogeneous populations of proliferating neural progenitor cells which are capable of generating both neurons and glia in vivo and in vitro.  However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms which regulate the cell-fate decisions of these distinct progenitor populations are unclear. Moreover, the ability to identify neural progenitor populations in vivo is hindered by a lack of defined molecular markers capable of specifically recognizing these cells, highlighting the need for additional tools for the continued analysis of neural progenitors in vivo.

           

    We have generated a SOX2^EGFP mouse line which allows for the prospective identification of SOX2-positive neural progenitor cells in the developing and adult CNS in vivo (Fig. 1).  I have demonstrated that distinct populations, specifically radial glial cells and intermediate progenitor cells, can be prospectively isolated from the dorsal telencephalon of the brain based upon their intracellular concentrations of SOX2 (Fig 2 and 3).   In addition, I am currently investigating the function of SOX2 in the proper maintenance of radial glial cells in the dorsal telencephalon and have shown that loss of SOX2 in radial glial cells results in a decrease in the number of proliferating radial glia and intermediate progenitors, as well as a reduction in their self-renewal capacity.