Mechanisms underlying the establishment of the evolutionary conserved wedge-like structure of the central nervous system

Presented by Professor Stefan Thor, Professor in Developmental Biology, Linkoping University, Sweden

Biosketch for Stefan Thor, PhD

Stefan Thor received his undergraduate degree in Biology from Umea University, Sweden, in 1988. He trained in developmental biology as a graduate student with Thomas Edlund, also at Umea University and received his PhD in 1994. His post-doctoral training in Drosophila developmental biology was conducted at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, USA, with John B. Thomas. In 1999, he moved to Harvard Medical School and established his first independent lab, in the Department of Neurobiology. In 2004, he moved back to his native country Sweden, and is currently a Professor of Developmental Biology at Linkoping University.

During the last two decades the field of developmental biology has made substantial progress with respect to identifying the molecular genetic mechanisms generating neuronal diversity. In contrast, less is known regarding the control of proliferation during nervous system development. This includes proliferation control not only of neural progenitors (neural stem cells) but also of different classes of daughter cells. Moreover, how proliferation control is integrated with cell fate specification, such that the precise cell number of each neuronal sub-type is generated, is essentially unknown.

Current research in the lab focuses on proliferation control in the developing nervous system, and how proliferation is integrated with cell fate decisions to ensure that the proper number of each cell type is generated.

Contact

Dept. of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
Linkoping University, SE-581 85 Linkoping, Sweden
Phone: +46-10 103 57 75, Fax: +46-10 103 43 14, E-mail: stefan.thor@liu.se

Recent publications

1. Global Programmed Switch in Neural Daughter Cell Proliferation Mode Triggered by a Temporal Gene Cascade. Baumgardt, M1., Karlsson, D1., Salmani, Y.B., Bivik, C., MacDonald, R., Gunnar, E., and Thor, S. Dev Cell, 30(2):192-208. 1) equal contribution

2. Bivik, C, MacDonald, R, Gunnar, E, Mazouni, K, Schweisguth, F, Thor, S. (2016). Control of Neural Daughter Cell Proliferation by Multi-level Notch/Su(H)/E(spl)HLH Signaling. PLoS Genetics, 12(4): e1005984.

3. Gabilondo, H1, Stratmann, J1, Rubio-Fererra, I, Millan-Crespo, I, Contero-Garcia, P, Bahrampour, S, Thor, S*, Benito-Sipos, J*. (2016). Neuronal Cell Fate Specification by the Convergence of Different Spatio-Temporal Cues on a Common Terminal Selector Cascade. PLoS Biology, 14(5): e1002450. 1) equal contribution; *co-corresponding author.

4. Stratmann, J1, Gabilondo, H1, Benito-Sipos, J, Thor, S. (2016). Neuronal Cell Fate Diversification Controlled by Sub-temporal Action of Kruppel. eLife, Oct 14;5. pii: e19311. 1) equal contribution.

5. Cobeta, M.I, Salmani, Y.S, Thor, S. (2017). Anterior-posterior Gradient in Neural Stem and Daughter Cell Proliferation Governed by Spatial and Temporal Hox Control. Current Biology, Mar 30. pii: S0960-9822(17)30292-0.

6. Stratmann, J, Thor, S. (2017). Neuronal Cell Fate Specification by the Molecular Convergence of Different Spatio-Temporal Cues on a Common Initiator Terminal Selector Gene. PLoS Genetics, 13(4):e1006729 

Please view Professor Thor's CV

Please views selected recent publications