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McGee Lab

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Research Topics

  1. Regulation of plasticity in the mammalian CNS
  2. Mechanisms of functional recovery following CNS injury
  3. Dynamics of synapse formation and maintenance in vivo

Research Overview

In the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), the flexibility of neuronal functional properties and anatomical connectivity diminish as development concludes. As the limited capacity for plasticity in the mature CNS impedes recovery from both childhood neurologic disorders as well as CNS injury, understanding how plasticity is regulated has significant therapeutic potential. My research explores the genes and mechanisms that mediate this transition from robust plasticity in the developing CNS to more restricted plasticity in the mature CNS. The lab uses a combination of genetics, electrophysiology, and in vivo imaging to study plasticity in the developing visual system as well as recovery following CNS injury. Our goal is to devise interventions that acutely enhance plasticity in the CNS to promote more efficient and complete restitution of function from a broad range of childhood and adult neurologic disorders such as amblyopia (lazy eye), autism, and spinal cord injury.

 

Intrinsic signal imaging of activity through a cranial window provides spatial, magnitude, and retinotopic information about the response of the brain to a visual stimulus. Left: The profile of
blood vessels overlying visual cortex. Middle: A magnitude map of neuronal activity in response to a visual stimulus. Right: A retinotopic map of the response to the same stimuli.

Aaron W. McGee, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Neuroscience Program
The Saban Research Institute

Contact Information
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
4650 Sunset Blvd., MS 135
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Phone: 323.361.7197
Fax: 323.361.1549
Immunofluorescence staining for myelin basic protein reveals the distribution of myelinated fibers in mouse visual cortex.

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellowship in Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, 2002-2008
  • University of California – San Francisco (UCSF), PhD, 1995-2001
  • University of Colorado at Boulder, BA, MCD, 1990-95

 

Selected Publications

  1. McGee AW, Yang Y, Fischer QS, Daw NW, abd Strittmatter SM (2005). Experience-driven plasticity of visual cortex limited by myelin and nogo receptor. Science, 309:2222-2226.
  2. McGee AW, Nunziato DA, Maltez JM, Prehoda KE, Pitt GS, and Bredt DS (2004). Calcium channel function regulated by the SH3-GK module in beta subunits. Neuron, 42(1):89-99.
  3. McGee AW and Strittmatter SM (2003). The Nogo-66 receptor: focusing myelin inhibition of axon regeneration. Trends Neurosci.  Apr;26(4):193-8.
  4. McGee AW and Bredt DS (2003). Assembly and plasticity of the glutamatergic postsynaptic specialization. Curr Opin Neurobiol. Feb;13(1):111-8.
  5. McGee AW, Dakoji SR, Olsen O, Bredt DS, Lim WA, and Prehoda KE (2001). Structure of the SH3-guanylate kinase module from PSD-95 suggests a mechanism for regulated assembly of MAGUK scaffolding proteins. Molecular Cell, 8(6):1291-301.
  6. McGee AW and Bredt DS (1999). Identification of an intramolecular interaction between the SH3 and guanylate kinase domains of PSD-95. J. Biol. Chem., 274(25):17431-6.