Postdoc
ckugler@mednet.ucla.edu
Gonda 2309
Educational Background:
PhD Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
BS Psychobiology, Minor in Spanish Quinnipiac University, School of Health Sciences, Hamden, CT
Research Project:
My research utilizes genetic mouse models of ASD to study the neurobiological characteristics and the behavioral deficits associated with ASD: social interaction, vocal communication, learning impairment and repetitive behaviors. Currently, I am researching the implications of CYFIP1 overexpression in ASD. CYFIP1 (Cytoplasmic FMR1-interacting protein 1), located in the chromosomal 15q11-13 region, is a gene that is implicated in ASD and Dup15q syndrome. CYFIP1 has emerged as a candidate gene for the ASD-associated phenotypes in 15qDup patients due to its role in actin nucleation, which is important for neuronal cell migration and axonal polarity. Overexpression of CYFIP1 in vivo and in vitro results in cellular hypertrophy, increases in dendritic spine density, as well as increases in mature dendritic spines (Oguro-Ando et al., 2014). In order to gain insights into CYFIP1's role in ASD and ASD-associated disorders, we have created a CYFIP1-overexpressing mouse by pronuclear injection of a human CYFIP1 BAC construct. This mouse will be used to elucidate the behavioral and in vivo molecular changes associated with CYFIP1 overexpression.
Joined the lab:
2015
