The physiological role of the GTPase Rab21 in neuronal migration and the development of the cerebral cortex.

MACARENA PERALTA CUASOLO; SEBASTIAN DUPRAZ; DIEGO GRASSI; SANTIAGO QUIROGA; LUCAS J. SOSA

Cordoba

Congreso; XXXIII Annual Meeting of the Argentinian Society for Neurosciences (SAN).; 2018

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias (SAN)

The development of the complex structure of the mammalian neocortexrequires the proper migration of developing neurons from the ventricular zone containing neural progenitors to the cortical plate. The precise coordination of different cellular processes such as cytoskeletondynamics, membrane trafficking and cell adhesion during migration is achieved by a variety of signaling pathways.GTPases play a central role in all these processes. In this context, the small GTPase Rab21 has been implicated in the regulation of cell adhesion dynamics by controlling the trafficking of endocytic vesicles containing adhesion molecules. Interestingly, Rab21 has been also implicated in neurite outgrowth. With the following project, we propose to study how Rab21 regulates sorting, traffic and endocytosis of adhesion proteins such as amyloid beta precursor protein (APP) and N-cadherin and elucidating its function in neuronal migration and the development of the cerebral cortex. These studies are important to better understand the mechanism governing the development of the cerebral cortex and the mechanisms that participate in neurodevelopmental pathologies such as autism spectrum disorders and cortical malformations.