Email: gcole@nccu.edu
Analyses of the role of agrin in cell-matrix interactions in the developing and aging nervous system. My research focuses on two areas of nervous system development, with an emphasis on the molecular basis of extracellular matrix-cell interactions during development. A major focus of my laboratory is on the role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans in these processes. Our current focus is on the heparan sulfate proteoglycan agrin, and its role in the developing and aging nervous system. These studies are currently focusing on elucidating the mechanisms by which agrin modulates the function of fibroblast growth factors (fgfs) during chicken and zebrafish nervous system development. In addition, we are investigating the role of agrin in protein conformational disorder diseases, such as the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. These studies suggest that agrin is intimately associated with the pathological lesions (senile plaques) of both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and that agrin promotes the formation of amyloid fibrils that are found the amyloid lesions of these two diseases. These studies raise the interesting possibility that agrin may contribute to the pathophysiology of these diseases.
Liu, I.-H., Zhang, C., Kim, M.J. and Cole, G.J. (2008). Retina development in zebrafish requires the heparan sulfate proteoglycan agrin. Dev. Neurobiol. 68, 877-898.
Lee, J.-A., Anholt, R.R. H. and Cole, G.J. (2008). Olfactomedin-2 mediates development of the anterior central nervous system and head structures in zebrafish. Mech. Dev. 125, 167-181; 2008
Lee, J.-A. and Cole, G.J. (2007). Generation of transgenic zebrafish expressing green fluorescent protein under control of zebrafish amyloid precursor polypeptide gene regulatory elements. Zebrafish 4, 277-286.
Candiello, J., Balasubramani, M., Schreiber, E.M., Cole, G.J., Mayer, U., Halfter, W., and Lin, H. (2007). Biomechanical properties of native basement membranes. FEBS J. 274, 2897-2908.
Wakamatsu, Y., Nakamura, N., Lee, J.-A., Cole, G.J., and Osumi, N. (2007) Transitin, a Nestin-like intermediate filament protein, mediates cortical localization and lateral transport of Numb in mitotic avian neuroepithelial cells. Development 134, 2425-2433.
Kim, M.J., Liu, I.-H., Song, Y., Lee, J.-A., Halfter, W., Balice-Gordon, R.J., Linney, E., and Cole, G.J. (2007). Agrin is required for posterior development and motor axon outgrowth and branching in embryonic zebrafish. Glycobiology 17, 231-247.
Liu, I.-H., Uversky, V.N., Munishkina, L.A., Fink, A.L., Halfter, W., and Cole, G.J. (2005). Agrin binds a-synuclein and modulates a-synuclein fibrillation. Glycobiology 15, 1320-1331.
Halfter, W., Dong, S., Schurer, B., Ring, C., Cole, G.J. and Eller, A. (2005). Embryonic synthesis of the inner limiting membrane and vitreous body. Invest. Ophth. Vis. Sci., 46, 2202-2209.