Samuel L. Pfaff
e-mail: pfaff@salk.edu |
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Samuel Pfaff, a professor in the Gene Expression Laboratory, studies the fetal development of the spinal cord. The objective is to discover how nerve cells are formed and wire up correctly.
Of special interest to him is how motor neurons develop and make connections between the spinal cord and muscles in the body, since these connections are necessary for all body movements. Spinal cord injuries lead to paralysis because motor neuron function is disrupted. Degenerative diseases such as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), spinal muscle atrophy and post-polio syndrome result from the loss of motor neurons.
Marquardt, T., Shirasaki, R., Ghosh, Carter, N., S., Andrews, S.E., Hunter, T., Pfaff, S.L. (2005). Co-expressed EphA receptors and ephrin-A ligands mediate opposing actions on growth cone navigation from distinct membrane subdomains. Cell 121: 127-39.
Yeo, M., Lee, S.-K., Pfaff, S.L., Gill, G.N. (2005). SCP phosphatases function in silencing neuronal gene expression. Science 307: 596-600.
Myers, C.P., Lewcock, J.W., Hanson, M.G., Gosgnach, S., Aimone, J.B.,
Gage, F.H., Lee, K-F., Landmesser, L.T., and Pfaff, S.L. (2005). Cholinergic
input is required during embryonic development to mediate proper assembly
of spinal locomotor circuits. Neuron 46: 37-49.
Lee, S.K., and Pfaff, S.L. (2003). Synchronization of neurogenesis
and motor neuron specification by direct coupling of bHLH and homeodomain
transcription factors. Neuron 38: 731-745.
Thaler, J.P., Lee, S-K., Jurata, L.W., Gill, G.N., Pfaff, S.L. (2002). LIM Factor Lhx3 contributes to the specification of motor neuron and interneuron identity through cell-type-specific protein-protein interactions. Cell 110: 237-249.
Sam Pfaff received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and conducted postdoctoral study at Vanderbilt University and Columbia University. He has received a McKnight Scholar Award in Neurobiology, a March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Scholar Award, and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow Award.
