Glia-neuron interactions during circuit remodeling

Glia - including both microglia and astrocytes - have emerged in recent years as key regulators of synapse pruning, during normal brain development as well as in pathological states such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. 

We and others have shown that in the developing Drosophila mushroom body, astrocyte-like glia actively infiltrate the axonal bundle to facilitate its defasciculation at the onset of pruning, and later engulf the pruned debris. However, the involvement of additional glial subtypes, the extent to which glia play instructive vs. permissive roles, and the molecular basis of glia-neuron interactions during remodeling, remain to be uncovered. 

We use state-of-the-art genetic tools and high resolution imaging techniques to simultaneously label and manipulate both glia and neurons within the developing brain, in the aim of uncovering the genes and pathways within glia that are crucial for different aspects of neuronal remodeling and circuit formation.