The Mueller Laboratory

Projects

The laboratory studies the mechanisms that regulate the development and function of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). We are also interested in developmental disorders that lead to impairment of CNS function.

Auditory Perception and Deafness

Animals use acoustic signals to communicate and obtain information about their environment. The processing of acoustic signals is initiated at auditory sense organs, where mechanoreceptor cells convert sound-induced vibrations into electrical signals that can be transmitted to the nervous system. The auditory mechanoreceptor cells in mammals are the hair cells of the sensory epithelium of the cochlea. The architectural features of the cochlea and the properties of the hair cells are essential for encoding time-variant frequency components of sound as spatio-temporal arrays of neural discharge that provide our sense of hearing. The laboratory combines molecular, genetic, structural, and electrophysiological approaches to define the molecular principles that control the development and function of the auditory sensory epithelium, to identify components of the mechanotransduction machinery in hair cells, and to study the molecular pathogenesis of deafness, the most common form of sensory impairment in humans.

Central Nervous System Development

Neuronal and glial subtypes of the CNS are generated from neural stem cells in specialized proliferation zones and migrate subsequently, sometimes over considerable distances, to their final destination. Neural stem cells are maintained within restricted areas of the adult CNS and continue to generate neuronal and glial cells throughout life. We are interested in the mechanisms that regulate the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells, the molecular machinery that controls the migration of their offspring, and the signals that lead to migratory arrest following arrival of the cells at appropriate target areas. The laboratory studies these events in developing and adult animals using a variety of approaches such as mouse molecular genetics, primary neuronal cell culture, and real time imaging.