Directory | Contact | Careers | Intranet | Home

Scripps Research Joint Appointments

Faculty, Kellogg School of Science and Technology

Research Focus

My laboratory is focused on understanding how the components necessary for establishing the cellular architecture of the brain (neuronal and glial cell types) are generated and how these assemble into functional circuits that underlie behavior. The mechanisms by which these processes occur are largely unknown, and yet, disruptions can have enormous societal and personal consequences in the form of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Such disorders provide a window into the basic genetic and cellular mechanisms involved in building the brain. This insight may be used in turn to benefit those affected by mental illness, pointing to molecular targets for improved diagnostics and therapeutics.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one such disorder. ASD is characterized by a range of phenotypes, including deficits in social behavior, as well as an altered trajectory of brain growth in some cases. Clues to mechanisms come from reports that PTEN-PI3K-mTOR, monoamine, neuropeptide and synaptic signaling pathways have been implicated in ASD pathogenesis. Understanding how these risk factors influence brain and behavior will give us basic insight into how the brain develops and how this process is altered in ASD.

Along these lines, my laboratory makes use of transgenic and knockout mice to understand the biology of how risk factors for autism and related neurodevelopmental disorders influence the development of cell types and circuits underlying behavior, and to test efficacy of potential therapeutics. The PTEN-PI3K-mTOR pathway and neural systems relevant for autism and social behavior (e.g. serotonin and oxytocin/vasopressin) are areas of focus for our work.

We use a variety of techniques, including transgenic mice, histology, molecular cell biology, genomics, informatics, pharmacology, imaging and behavioral phenotyping.

 

Education

Ph.D., University of Cambridge, 2002
B.S., Biology, Eastern Oregon University, 1999

Selected References

Page DT (2002) Inductive patterning of the embryonic brain in Drosophila. Development 129: 2121-2128

Page DT (2003) A function for Egf receptor signaling in expanding the developing brain inDrosophila. Current Biology 13: 474-482

Olofsson B and Page DT (2005) Condensation of the Central Nervous System in EmbryonicDrosophila is Inhibited by Blocking Hemocyte Migration or Neural Activity. Developmental Biology 279: 233-243

Page DT and Olofsson B (2008) Multiple roles for apoptosis facilitating condensation of theDrosophila ventral nerve cord. Genesis, 46: 61-68

Page DT, Kuti OJ, Prestia C and Sur M (2009) Haploinsufficiency for Pten and Serotonin transportercooperatively influences brain size and social behavior. PNAS, 106: 1989-1994

Mao R, Page DT, Holtzman J, Merzlyak I, Kim C, Tecott LH, Janak PH, Rubenstein JLR, and Sur M (2009) Reduced conditioned fear response in mice that lack Dlx1 and show subtype-specific loss of interneurons. Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 1: 224-236

Horng S, Kreiman G, Ellsworth C, Page D, Blank M, Millen K and Sur M (2009) Differential Gene Expression in the Developing Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and Medial Geniculate Nucleus Reveals Novel Functional Roles for Zic4 and Foxp2 in Visual and Auditory Pathway Development. Journal of Neuroscience, 29: 13672-13683

Page DT, Kuti OJ and Sur M (2009) Computerized assessment of social approach behavior in mouse. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 3: 1-7

Hawrylycz M, Ng L, Page D, Morris J, Lau C, Faber S, Faber V, Sunkin S, Menon V, Lein E & Jones A (2011) Multi-scale correlation structure of gene expression in the brain. Neural Networks, 24: 933-942.

Page DT (2011) A candidate circuit approach to investigating autism. Anatomical Record (Hoboken), 94: 1671-1684.

Zeng H, Shen EH, Hohmann JG, Oh SW, Bernard A, Royall JJ, Glattfelder KJ, Sunkin SM, Morris JA, Guillozet-Bongaarts AL, Smith KA, Ebbert AJ, Swanson B, Kuan L, Page DT, Overly CC, Lein ES, Hawrylycz MJ, Hof PR, Hyde TM, Kleinmann JE, and Jones AR (2012) Large-scale cellular-resolution gene profiling in human neocortex reveals species-specific molecular signatures. Cell,149: 483-496.