Rare Diseases: Models & Mechanisms Network

Basic Information

First Name
Last Name
Organization
Department
Website	https://www.uoguelph.ca/mcb/people/dr-jasmin-lalonde

Contact Information

Email	jlalon07@uoguelph.ca
Phone	(519) 824-4120 x. 54706

About My Research

The morphogenesis of neuronal cells and their organization into functional circuits is a tightly controlled process that follows a series of well-defined steps. Once differentiated and integrated into networks, mature neurons also retain a remarkable capacity to rapidly change the arrangement of their synaptic connections in response to activity, a feature that is believed to critically support cognition as well as our ability to learn and retain information for long periods of time. Accumulating evidence strongly suggests that perturbation of the molecular interactions responsible for the growth of neurons, or the capacity of these cells to adequately respond to activity-dependent signals, contributes to the pathophysiology of different brain disorders such as schizophrenia, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorders. Our laboratory aims to elucidate novel effectors and mechanisms that contribute to the development and/or plasticity of neuronal cells. We believe that our basic research into these questions will lead to new insights into the pathogenesis of different brain disorders and potentially help recognize original targets for pharmacological intervention and treatment of these debilitating diseases.

Current areas of research in our laboratory are:

i.      Regulation and function of Store-Operated Calcium Entry (SOCE) in brain development and disease
ii.     Post-transcriptional and -translational control of neuroplasticity effector Arc/Arg3.1
iii.    Study of the molecular basis of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia with patient-derived iPSCs differentiated in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and neurons
iv.    Brain tumour biology and cancer neuroscience
v.     Cannabis-derived molecules and their influence on neurobiology

Our group uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore these questions, which includes primary neuron cultures, genetic perturbations, calcium and live-cell imaging, confocal microscopy, gene expression profiling, proteomic techniques, as well as patient-derived models of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Gene ID	Symbol	Name	Tier
23043	TNIK	TRAF2 and NCK interacting kinase	TIER2
6671	SP4	Sp4 transcription factor	TIER2
3745	KCNB1	potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily B member 1	TIER2
6792	CDKL5	cyclin dependent kinase like 5	TIER2
54476	RNF216	ring finger protein 216	TIER2
10369	CACNG2	calcium voltage-gated channel auxiliary subunit gamma 2	TIER2
23237	ARC	activity regulated cytoskeleton associated protein	TIER2
375346	STIMATE	STIM activating enhancer	TIER2

Term	Name	Aspect	Overlap	Size

Mouse Research Focus

Genes
Terms

Gene ID	Symbol	Name	Tier
16500	Kcnb1	potassium voltage gated channel, Shab-related subfamily, member 1	TIER2
665113	Tnik	TRAF2 and NCK interacting kinase	TIER2
11838	Arc	activity regulated cytoskeletal-associated protein	TIER2
12300	Cacng2	calcium channel, voltage-dependent, gamma subunit 2	TIER2
108086	Rnf216	ring finger protein 216	TIER2
382253	Cdkl5	cyclin dependent kinase like 5	TIER2
69179	Stimate	STIM activating enhancer	TIER2

Term	Name	Aspect	Overlap	Size

Publications