Barbara Lom
Associate Professor of Biology
Davidson College
Biology Department • Box 7118 • Davidson, NC 28035-7118
office:
261 Dana Hall • lab: 251 Dana Hall
ph: 704-894-2338 • fax:
704-894-2512
Lom Lab Protocols
Lom Lab Members & Alumni
Journal
of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (JUNE)
SYNAPSE
Symposium for Young Neuroscientists And Professors of the Southeast
Davidson
Courses
Biology 111 • Molecules,
Genes, & Cells
Biology 306 • Developmental Biology
Biology 333 • Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience
Biology 351 • Microscopy & Imagaing in Neuroscience (Group Investigation)
Biology 371 •
Independent
Research
Education
1989
• B.A. in Biology and Neuroscience, Lawrence
University, Appleton, WI
1995 • Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Northwestern
University, Chicago, IL
Postdoctoral
Fellowships
1995-1997
• Biology Department, UCSD,
La Jolla, CA
1997-1999 • Mental
Retardation Research Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Research
My laboratory investigates how individual neurons wire themselves together
into a precisely interconnected and functional nervous system. Specifically,
the lab is interested in how growth factors direct axon extension and
innervation, as well as the intracellular signaling mechanisms that
translate external neurotrophic signals into specific cellular responses
such as growth cone formation and the elaboration of axonal and dendritic
arbors. Our neuron of choice is the retinal ganglion cell (RGC), the
only type of neuron that connects the eye to the brain. These connections
must be formed with extreme precision in order for an organism to obtain
an accurate representation of the visual field. RGC cell bodies and
dendrites reside in the retina, while thier axons follow a stereotypic
pathway through the diencephalon to innervate their target neurons in
the optic tectum. We can manipulate and observe developing RGCs particularly
well in the South African claw-toed frog, (Xenopus laevis) tadpoles.
With the developing Xenopus visual system we are studying how
neurotrophic molecules influence RGC axonogenesis, axonal vs. dendritic
arborization, growth cone navigation, target recognition, and synaptogenesis
in vivo.
Selected
Publications (* indicates undergraduate
authors)
*Chemotti DC; *Davis SN; *Cook LW; *Willoughby IR; Paradise CJ; Lom B (2006) The pesticide malathion disrupts Xenopus and zebrafish embryogenesis: An investigative laboratory exercise in developmental toxicology. Bioscence: Journal of College Biology Teaching, 32:4-18.
*Cook LW; Paradise CJ; Lom B (2005) The pesticide malathion reduces survival and growth in developing zebrafish. Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry 24: 1745-50. (abstract)
Cohen-Cory
S; Lom B (2004) Neurotrophic regulation of retinal ganglion cell synaptic
connectivity: From axons and dendrites to synapses. International
Journal of Developmental Biology 48: 947-56. (abstract & PDF)
*Rigel R; Lom B (2004) Xenopus laevis retinal ganglion cell dendritic
arbors develop independently of visual stimulation. Impulse 1:
51-58. (abstract
& PDF)
Lom B; Cogen J; Lontok Sanchez AY; Vu T; Cohen-Cory S (2002) Local and target-derived brain-derived neurotrophic factor exert opposing effects on the dendritic arborization of retinal ganglion cells in vivo. Journal of Neuroscience 22: 7639-49. (abstract & PDF)
Lom B; Cohen-Cory S (1999) Brain-derived neurotrophic factor differentially regulates retinal ganglion cell dendritic and axonal arborization in vivo. Journal of Neuroscience 19: 9928-9938. (abstract & PDF)
Lom B; Hopker V; McFarlane S; Bixby JL; Holt CE (1998) Fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling in Xenopus retinal axon extension. Journal of Neurobiology 37: 633-641. (abstract)
