Group leader: Bassem Hassan
PhD: Ohio State Univ., Ohio, USA, '96
Postdoc: HHMI/Baylor Coll. of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA, '96-'01
VIB Group leader since 2001
EMBO Young Investigator, 2003 EMBO member 2009
Research interests
The Laboratory of Neurogenetics is interested in understanding the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the development and differentiation of the Nervous System. We use genetic, molecular and cell biological and computational approaches to unravel the regulatory interactions and signaling pathways which lead to the differentiation of functional neuronal elements. We are also, rather intuitively, interested in the processes which undermine normal development and differentiation leading to neuronal pathologies. Our main tool is the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, arguably the genetic model organism with the most sophisticated "tool-kit" in modern biological research. We have developed three key areas of focus in our research. First, we are interested in understanding the regulatory interactions and transcription factors that control the fate of neural cells. Second, we investigate the roles of these and other genes in later events of neuronal differentiation, with particular focus on the mechanisms which regulate neural circuit development. Third, the fact that neuronal pathologies result from aberrations in normal development has lead us to investigate the role of human disease genes in neural circuit development and maintenance
Schedule lab meetings : lab-meeting-JC-20111.pdf
Key Publications
Robust target gene discovery through transcriptome perturbations and genome-wide enhancer predictions in Drosophila uncovers a regulatory basis for sensory specification. Aerts S, Quan XJ, Claeys A, Naval Sanchez M, Tate P, Yan J, Hassan BA. PLoS Biol. 2010 Jul 27;8(7):e1000435
Conditional mutagenesis in Drosophila. Choi CM, Vilain S, Langen M, Van Kelst S, De Geest N, Yan J, Verstreken P, Hassan BA. Science. 2009 Apr 3;324(5923):54.
Atonal homolog 1 is a tumor suppressor gene. Bossuyt W, Kazanjian A, De Geest N, Van Kelst S, De Hertogh G, Geboes K, Boivin GP, Luciani J, Fuks F, Chuah M, VandenDriessche T, Marynen P, Cools J, Shroyer NF, Hassan BA. PLoS Biol. 2009 Feb 24;7(2):e39.
Mutational analysis establishes a critical role for the N terminus of fragile X mental retardation protein FMRP. Reeve SP, Lin X, Sahin BH, Jiang F, Yao A, Liu Z, Zhi H, Broadie K, Li W, Giangrande A, Hassan BA, Zhang YQ. J Neurosci. 2008 Mar 19;28(12):3221-6.
A signaling network for patterning of neuronal connectivity in the Drosophila brain. Srahna M, Leyssen M, Choi CM, Fradkin LG, Noordermeer JN, Hassan BA. PLoS Biol. 2006 Oct;4(11):e348. Erratum in: PLoS Biol. 2006 Dec;4(12):e432.
Amyloid precursor protein promotes post-developmental neurite arborization in the Drosophila brain. Leyssen M, Ayaz D, Hébert SS, Reeve S, De Strooper B, Hassan BA. EMBO J. 2005 Aug 17;24(16):2944-55. Epub 2005 Jul 28.
The Drosophila fragile X mental retardation protein controls actin dynamics by directly regulating profilin in the brain. Reeve SP, Bassetto L, Genova GK, Kleyner Y, Leyssen M, Jackson FR, Hassan BA. Curr Biol. 2005 Jun 21;15(12):1156-63.
Evolution of neural precursor selection: functional divergence of proneural proteins. Quan XJ, Denayer T, Yan J, Jafar-Nejad H, Philippi A, Lichtarge O, Vleminckx K, Hassan BA. Development. 2004 Apr;131(8):1679-89. Epub 2004 Mar 17.
Drosophila fragile X protein, DFXR, regulates neuronal morphology and function in the brain. Morales J, Hiesinger PR, Schroeder AJ, Kume K, Verstreken P, Jackson FR, Nelson DL, Hassan BA. Neuron. 2002 Jun 13;34(6):961-72.
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Research Team
