 |
Director, Neuroscience Program
Professor, Pediatrics and Biology
The Saban Research Institute
Contact Information
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
4650 Sunset Blvd., MS 135
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: 323.361.8607
Fax: 323.361.1549 |
Research Topics
- Axon targeting in limbic and hypothalamic neural pathways
- Leptin receptor signaling in developing hypothalamic circuitry
- Development of sexually dimorphic forebrain regions
Research Overview
The development of the brain depends on complex interactions between genetic factors and environmental influences, such as neuronal activity, growth factors and circulating hormones. Hormones secreted by peripheral organs can determine the number and chemical phenotype of specific sets of neurons during development as well as direct formation of connections with other parts of the brain. Currently we are studying the organization and development of forebrain pathways that regulate feeding and energy homeostasis. Recent findings indicate that these neural pathways develop under the influence of the adipocyte derived hormone leptin during discrete temporal domains, suggesting that there are region-specific, hormonally-directed mechanisms governing the assembly of homeostatic circuits. Using axonal labeling methods and both in vitro and in vivo experimental approaches, we are determining if manipulations of genes known to participate in leptin signaling in mature animals also influence the development of the pathways that mediate hypothalamic responses to changes in energy balance. The results of this work indicate that leptin is indeed a major developmental factor that may mediate the developmental effects of a variety of environmental factors including nutrition.
Education
 The Salk Institute for Biological Research, 1984-1986
- University of California, Los Angeles, PhD, 1984
- University of California, Berkeley, AB, 1976
Selected Publications
- Ibanez MA, Gu, GB, and Simerly RB (2001). Target-dependent sexual differentiation of a limbichypothalamic neural pathway. J. Neurosci. 21:5652-5659.
- Bouret SG and Simerly, RB (2004). Trophic action of leptin on hypothalamic neurons that regulate feeding. Science, 304:108-110.
- Polston EK and Simerly RB (2006). Ontogeny of projections from the anteroventral periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in the female rat. J. Comp. Neurology 495:122-132.
- Bouret SG, Gorski JN, Patterson CM, Chen, S, Levin BE and Simerly RB (2008). Neural projections from the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus are permanently disrupted in diet-induced obese rats. Cell Metab., 7(2):179:185.
- Waters EM and Simerly RB (2009). Estrogen induces caspase-dependent cell death during hypothalamic development. J Neurosci. 29(31):9714-8.
|