James E. Goldman

Professor Goldman is working to understand environmental and lineage control of neuronal and glial fates in the developing CNS. Using viral gene transfer, transgenics, live slice imaging, and culture systems, his research is defining the migration of precursor cells from germinal zones of the perinatal rodent forebrain and cerebellum, and the development of these precursors into neurons and glia.. He is also interested in how these precursors can be altered to mimic the continued proliferation and migration seen in glial brain tumors. His laboratory also studies the population of cycling precursor cells in the adult CNS to understand their fates under normal and pathological situations. For example, cycling precursors in adult white matter can differentiate into myelinating oligodendrocytes after demyelination. The Goldman lab is studying Alexander disease, a degenerative disorder of white matter caused by mutations in the astrocyte intermediate filament protein, GFAP. They have found that mutant GFAP accumulation leads to upregulation of several cell stress pathways and alterations in astrocyte function that may cause the death of oligodendrocytes and neurons.