Eloisa Herrera Laboratory

The precise wiring of the nervous system relies on the proper navigation of neural axons through the developing brain to reach their targets and establish precise connections. Guided by the concerted action of attractive and repulsive molecules, axon growth cones change rapidly their response in the intermediate targets that they transverse along their journey. This type of growth cone plasticity is at play all over the developing nervous system and although today we know many of the main families of axon guidance molecules and their respective receptors have been described, what triggers this reprogramming from one decision point to the next one is still unclear. Our research focus on the regulatory mechanisms underlying the formation of neural circuits using bilateral circuits such as the visual system or the ascending and descending connections that connect the spinal cord with the brain as a model. Current lines of research in our laboratory focus on the transcriptional, epigenetic (context-specific) and activity-dependent  mechanisms that regulate axon guidance and circuit assembly.