Paul Forscher

Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology

Research Interests

cytoskeleton; actin filament; microtubule; protein dynamics; axon growth; axon guidance; axon regeneration; mechanotransduction; calcium; Rho GTPase

Current Projects

  1. Actin filament turnover dynamics in neuronal growth
  2. Rho GTPase and Ca signaling crosstalk in regulation of motility
  3. Mechano-transduction in axon growth and neuronal differentiation

Research Summary

Have you ever wondered how your brain got wired? How a single neuron finds a unique signaling partner among over 10 billion other neurons? During
development neurons not only face this daunting task but often migrate extremely long distances (>50,000 cell diameter equivalents) to accomplish it!
My lab focuses on this problem and the specialized guidance device called the growth cone that provides the motility and signal transduction capabilities
needed for axon guidance. Current lab projects include: 1) Molecular motor and cytoskeletal protein dynamics underlying growth cone motility. 2) Cell surface receptors involved in target recognition. 3) Investigation of signal transduction pathways involved in controlling the cytoskeletal protein effectors involved. We address the relevant cell biological processes using a "molecular physiology"
approach. This typically entails generation of molecular probes to investigate dynamics of the process and/or protein-protein interactions in living neurons. We use a variety of high resolution imaging and biophysical approaches such as: multimode fluorescent speckle microscopy, laser trapping, photobleaching, and "caged" probe photoactivation.

Selected Publications

  • Rac1 modulates stimulus-evoked Ca(2+) release in neuronal growth cones via parallel effects on microtubule/endoplasmic reticulum dynamics and reactive oxygen species production. Zhang XF, Forscher P. Mol Biol Cell. 2009 Aug;20(16):3700-12
  • Multiplexed force measurements on live cells with holographic optical tweezers. Mejean CO, Schaefer AW, Millman EA, Forscher P, Dufresne ER. Opt Express. 2009 Apr 13;17(8):6209-17.
  • Coordination of actin filament and microtubule dynamics during neurite outgrowth. Schaefer AW, Schoonderwoert VT, Ji L, Mederios N, Danuser G, Forscher P. Dev Cell. 2008 Jul;15(1):146-62.
  • Myosin II activity facilitates microtubule bundling in the neuronal growth cone neck. Burnette DT, Ji L, Schaefer AW, Medeiros NA, Danuser G, Forscher P. Dev Cell. 2008 Jul;15(1):163-9.
  • Filopodial actin bundles are not necessary for microtubule advance into the peripheral domain of Aplysia neuronal growth cones. Burnette DT, Schaefer AW, Ji L, Danuser G, Forscher P. Nat Cell Biol. 2007 Dec;9(12):1360-9.
  • Myosin II functions in actin-bundle turnover in neuronal growth cones. Medeiros NA, Burnette DT, Forscher P. Nat Cell Biol. 2006 Mar;8(3):215-26.

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