Keynote Speakers

Yishi Jin, Ph.D.

E-mail : yijin (at) ucsd.edu

Job title :
Professor, Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Neurobiology, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Deigo
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Laboratory home page : https://jinlab.biology.ucsd.edu/

Keynote Lecture

Axon regeneration: novel pathways identified from C. elegans

Using single axon regeneration assay in C. elegans, we systematically screened >1200 genes that have human orthologs. We identified multiple novel regulators, including the MAP kinase DLK-1 and regulators of microtubule dynamics. Our mechanistic dissection on these genes have laid foundation for an emerging field to understand multifaceted roles of these genes in other organisms. In this talk, I will discuss our recent progress on two novel pathways. One involves the conservedmicrotubule regulator EFA-6, which rapidly redistributes from the cell cortex to microtubule minus ends following axon injury. We showed that this relocalization is critical for its function in repressing axon regrowth. Another operates at the level of RNA splicing, dependent on the CELF family RNA binding proteins. I will further discuss our on-going efforts to translate novel findings from C. elegans to mammals.