Research in my lab is focused on the cellular and
molecular biology of brain development, injury and regeneration.
Currently two lines of research are being explored. The first is
injury-induced neuronal regeneration in teleost fish; the second
is ocular morphogenesis in mammals.
A hallmark of the human brain is that neural injuries are permanent;
destroyed neurons are never replaced. In contrast, in the retina
of the teleost fish, neuronal death stimulates regenerative neurogenesis
and replacement of the damaged tissue. We are interested in the
cellular and molecular events that underlie this phenomenon. We
use a variety of techniques, including microscopy, immunocytochemistry,
organ culture and molecular biology, in an attempt to identify the
molecules and genes that are critical in the response of mature
neurons to injury and the stimulation of neurogenesis.
As an example of the second line of research in my lab, we are
currently investigating early eye and retinal development in a line
of transgenic mice that have an insertional mutation that results
in ocular colobomas. This research is a collaboration with the lab
of William Richardson, Ph.D. at University College London, where
the mice were originally identified. We are presently characterizing
the embryonic and early postnatal development of the eye and retina
in these animals as well as attempting to clone the gene that accounts
for the phenotype.
Representative Papers
- Otteson, D. C., E. Shelden, J. Kameoka, J. Jones and P. F.
Hitchcock (1998) Pax2 expression and retinal development
in the normal and Krd mouse. Dev. Biol., 193: 209-224.
- Boucher, S.-E. M. and P. F. Hitchcock (1998) Insulin-related
growth factors stimulate proliferation of multipotent neuronal
progenitors in the retina of the goldfish. J. Comp. Neurol., 394:
386-394.
- Boucher, S.-E. M. and P. F. Hitchcock (1998) Insulin-like
growth factor I binds to the inner plexiform layer and circumferential
germinal zone in the retina of the goldfish. J. Comp. Neurol.,
394: 395-401.
- Raymond, P. A. and P. F. Hitchcock (2000) How the neural
retina regenerates. In: Results and Problems in Cell Differentiation,
Vol. 31, Vertebrate Eye Development, M. Elizabeth Fini, (ed) Springer-Verlag
- Easter, S. S., Jr. and P. F. Hitchcock (2000) Stem
cells and regeneration in the retina: What fish have taught us
about neurogenesis. Neuroscientist, 6: 454-464.
- Otteson, D. C., A. R. D'Costa and P. F. Hitchcock (2001)
Putative stem cells and the lineage of rod photoreceptors in the
mature retina of the goldfish. Dev. Biol., 232:62-76.
- Hitchcock, P. F., D. C. Otteson and P. F. Cirenza
(2001) Molecular cloning and cellular expression of the insulin
receptor
in the retina of the goldfish. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.,
42:2125-2129.
- Otteson,
D. C., P. F.Cirenza and P. F. Hitchcock (2002)
Persistent neurogenesis in the retina of teleosts: the roles
of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-I.
Mech.
Dev. 117: 137-149
- Ruiz-Ederra
J., P. F. Hitchcock and E. Vecino E. (2003)
Two classes of astrocytes in the adult human and pig retina
in terms
of their expression of high affinity NGF receptor (TrkA).
Neurosci Lett. 337(3):127-30.
- Otteson, D. C. and P. F. Hitchcock (2003) Stem cells in the
teleost
retina: persistent neurogenesis and injury-induced regeneration.
Vis Res. 43:927-936.
- Hitchcock,
P.F., M. Ochocinska, A. Sieh, D. C. Otteson (2004) Persistent
and injury-induce neurogenesis in the vertebrate retina.
Prog. Retin. Eye Res. 23:183-194.
- Hitchcock, P.F. and L. Kakuk-Atkins (2004) The bHLH transcription
factor neuroD is expressed in the rod lineage of the teleost
retina. J.
Comp. Neurol., in press.
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