For Faculty:
Resources for Faculty

Faculty Membership Policy

Committees

About Faculty:
Alphabetic Faculty List

Faculty Directory

Research Interests

Search Neuroscience

Paul C. Letourneau, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Neuroscience E-mail: letou001@umn.edu

Research Interests:

My laboratory studies the mechanisms by which molecular guidance cues regulate the formation of neuronal connections. Guidance cues are extrinsic ligands that bind receptors on axonal growth cones and trigger cytoplasmic signaling sequences that regulate the dynamics and organization of the actin filaments and microtubules of the axonal cytoskeleton. This cytoskeletal regulation controls the turning, branching and elongation of axons en route to synaptic targets. We are focused on the roles of protein kinase and phosphatase cascades, G proteins, transient Ca elevations and cyclic nucleotide signaling that regulate the actin and microtubule association proteins that determine cytoskeletal dynamics and organization.

Selected Publications:

(For a comprehensive list of recent publications, refer to PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine.)

Blackmore M, Letourneau PC. Protein synthesis in distal axons is not required for axon growth in the embryonic spinal cord. Dev Neurobiol. 2007 Jun;67(7):976-86.

Blackmore M, Letourneau PC. L1, beta1 integrin, and cadherins mediate axonal regeneration in the embryonic spinal cord. J Neurobiol. 2006 Dec;66(14):1564-83.

Blackmore M, Letourneau PC. Changes within maturing neurons limit axonal regeneration in the developing spinal cord. J Neurobiol. 2006 Mar;66(4):348-60.

Kholmanskikh SS, Koeller HB, Wynshaw-Boris A, Gomez T, Letourneau PC, Ross ME. Calcium-dependent interaction of Lis1 with IQGAP1 and Cdc42 promotes neuronal motility. Nat Neurosci. 2006 Jan;9(1):50-7.

Chen TJ, Gehler S, Shaw AE, Bamburg JR, Letourneau PC. Cdc42 participates in the regulation of ADF/cofilin and retinal growth cone filopodia by brain derived neurotrophic factor. J Neurobiol. 2006 Feb 5;66(2):103-14.

Chen Q, Chen TJ, Letourneau PC, Costa Lda F, Schubert D. Modifier of cell adhesion regulates N-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion and neurite outgrowth. J Neurosci. 2005 Jan 12;25(2):281-90.

Gehler, S., Shaw, A.E., Sarmiere, P.D., Bamburg, J.R. and Letourneau, P.C. 2004. BDNF regulation of retinal growth cone filopodial dynamics is mediated through ADF/cofilin. J Neuroscience 24:10741-10749.

Gehler, S., Gallo, G., Veien, E. and Letourneau P. C. 2004. p75NTR neurotrophin receptor signaling regulates growth cone filopodial dynamics through modulating RhoA activity. J Neuroscience 24:4363-4372.

Current Graduate Students:

Bonnie Marsick (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Former Graduate Students:

Murray Blackmore (Ph.D. 2005,Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Scott Gehler (Ph.D. 2004, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Tim Gomez (Ph.D. 1995, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).

Stanislav Kholmanskikh (Ph.D. 2002, Neuroscience, University of Minnesota).