Biosketch Top
As an undergraduate Dr. Johnson studied Chemistry at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1988, she completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Washington where she worked with Dr. Stephan Hauschka on muscle development. She joined the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in December 1992 following completion of her postdoctoral studies with Dr. David Anderson at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Research Top
The research in the Johnson lab is focused on vertebrate system
development during the transition from proliferating neural stem
cells to differentiating neurons and glia. These studies involve
understanding the regulation and function of the neural specific
class of bHLH transcription factors. Alteration in function and
expression of the neural bHLH factors result in disturbances of
connectivity, imbalances in excitatory and inhibitory neuron formation and loss of control of neural cell number. Using transgenic mice, genomic sequences are being identified that direct temporal and spatial specific expression of these factors in the developing brain and spinal cord. We are using these regulatory sequences to uncover processes initiating neural stem cell differentiation, and to generate new models to study the molecular control of neural differentiation and specification throughout the nervous system. |
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Recent Publications Top
Primary Research Articles
Hori, K., Cholewa-Walclaw, J., Nakada, Y., Glascow, S. M., Masui, T., Henke, R. M., Wildner, H., Martarelli, B., Beres, T. M., Epstein, J. A., Magnuson, M. A., MacDonald, R. J., Birchmeier, C. and Johnson, J. E. (2008) A non-classical bHLH-Rbpj transcription factor complex is required for specification of GABAergic neurons independent of Notch signaling. Genes and Dev., 22: 166-178.
Kim, E. J., Leung, C. T., Reed, R. R., and Johnson, J. E. (2007) In vivo analysis of Ascl1 defined progenators reveals distinct developmental dynamics during adult neurogenesis and gliogenesis. J. Neurosci., 27: 12764-12774.
Battiste, J., Helms, A. W., Kim, E. J., Savage, T. K., Lagace, D. C., Mandyam, C. D., Eisch, A. J., Miyoshi, G., and Johnson, J. E. (2007) Ascl1 defines sequentially generated lineage restricted neuronal and oligodendrocyte precursor cells in the spinal cord. Development, 134: 285-293.
Glasgow, S., Henke, R. M., Wright, C., MacDonald, R., and Johnson, J. E. (2005) PTF1a determines GABAergic over glutamatergic neuronal cell fate in the spinal cord dorsal horn. Development 132 5461-5469.
Helms, A. W., Battiste, J., Henke, R. M., Nakada, Y., Simplicio, N., Guillemot, F., and Johnson, J. E. (2005) Sequential roles for Mash1 and Ngn2 in the generation of dorsal spinal cord interneurons. Development 132, 2709-2719.
Nakada, Y., Parab, P., Simmons, A., Omer-Abdalla, A., and Johnson, J. E. (2004) Separable enhancer sequences regulate the expression of the neural bHLH transcription factor Neurogenin1. Dev Biol 271, 479-487.
Liu, Y., Helms, A. W. and Johnson, J. E. (2004) Distinct activities of Msx1 and Msx3 in dorsal neural tube development. Development 131, 1017-1028.
Nakada, Y., Hunsaker, T. L., Henke, R. M. and Johnson, J. E. (2004) Distinct domains within Mash1 and Math1 are required for function in neuronal differentiation versus neuronal cell-type specification. Development 131, 1319-1330.
Lumpkin, E. A., Collisson, T., Parab, P., Omar-Abdalla, A., Haeberle, H., Chen, P., Doetzlhofer, A., White, P., Groves, A., Segil, N. and Johnson, J. E. (2003). Math1-driven GFP expression in the developing nervous system of transgenic mice. Gene Expression Patterns 3, 389-395.
Ebert, P. J., Timmer, J. R., Nakada, Y., Helms, A. W., Parab, P. B., Liu, Y., Hunsaker, T. L., and Johnson, J. E. (2003). Zic1 represses Math1 expression via interactions with the Math1 enhancer and modulation of Math1 autoregulation. Development 130, 1949-1959.
Helms, A. W. and Johnson, J. E. (2003). Specification of dorsal spinal cord interneurons. Curr Op in Neurobiology 13, 42-49.
Gowan K., Helms, A. W., Hunsaker, T.L., Collisson, T., Ebert, P. J., Odom, R., Johnson, J. E. (2001) Crossinhibitory activities of Ngn1 and Math1 allow specification of distinct dorsal interneurons. Neuron 31, 219-232.
Helms, A. W., Gowan, K., Abney, A., Savage, T. and Johnson, J. E. (2001) Overexpression of MATH1 disrupts the coordination of neuronal differentiation in cerebellum development. Mol. Cel. Neurosci. 17, 671-682.
Timmer, J., Johnson, J. and Niswander, L. (2001) The user of in ovo electroporation for the rapid analysis of neural-specific murine enhancers. Genesis 29, 123-132.
Wang, S., Sdrulla, A., Johnson, J. E., Yokota, Y. and Barres, B. A. (2001) A role for the helix-loop-helix protein Id2 in the control of oligodendrocyte development. Neuron 29, 603-614.
Simmons, A., Horton, S., Abney, A. and Johnson, J. E. (2001) Neurogenin2 expression in ventral and dorsal spinal neural tube progenitor cells is regulated by distinct enhancers. Dev Biol 229, 327-339.
Meredith, A. and Johnson, J. E. (2000) Negative autoregulation of the MASH1 promoter in neural development. Dev Biol 222, 336-346.
Helms, A. W., Abney, A., Ben-Arie, N., Zoghbi, H. Y. and Johnson, J. E. (2000) Autoregulation and multiple enhancers control Math1 expression in the developing nervous system. Development 127,1185-1196.
Nakagawa, Y., Johnson, J. E., and O’Leary, D. D. M. (1999). Graded and areal expression patterns of regulatory genes and Cadherins in embryonic neocortex independent of thalamocortical input. J. Neuroscience 19, 10898-10907.
Horton, S., Meredith, A., Richardson, J. A., and Johnson, J. E. (1999). Correct coordination of neuronal differentiation events in ventral forebrain requires the bHLH factor MASH1. Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 14, 355-369.
Tuttle, R., Nakagawa, Y., Johnson, J. E., and O’Leary, D. (1999). Misguidance of thalamocortical projections in Mash1 mutant forebrains. Development 126, 1903-1916.
Verma-Kurvari, S., Savage, T., Smith, D., and Johnson, J. E. (1998). Multiple elements regulate Mash1 expression in the developing CNS. Dev Biol 197, 106-116.
Helms, A. W. and Johnson, J. E. (1998). Progenitors of dorsal commissural interneurons are defined by MATH1 expression. Development 125, 919-928.
Current Lab Staff Top
Rooms NA4.146
Telephone: 214-648-1874
Postdoctoral Fellows
Students
David Meredith david.meredith@UTSouthwestern.edu
Technicians
Past Lab Staff Top
Past Postdocs
Past Students
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