Richard Sando
Vanderbilt University, TN·Neuroscience·Early-career
The brain works because its neurons are connected in very particular ways. Each cell forms synapses, the tiny junctions where one neuron passes signals to another, with specific partners and not with others, and these patterns are built during development, then refined and maintained for life.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Biochemistry
Genetics
- Topics
synapse formation
synaptogenesis
neural circuit assembly
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2027
What they work on
- Determine the biological functions and intracellular signaling mechanisms of adhesion G-protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs), cell-surface proteins that both glue neurons together and trigger signaling, building on the lab's finding that Latrophilins set synaptic wiring specificity in hippocampal CA1.
- Use genome engineering with live imaging to track synapse formation at nanoscale resolution in mammalian circuits, visualizing connections as they assemble rather than inferring assembly from fixed tissue.
- Compare circuit assembly in aGPCR mutant mouse models and in human neurons derived from patients with neurological disorders, to test whether disease-linked genetic backgrounds alter how synapses form.
- Identify the molecular codes that specify distinct synapse subtypes during synapse formation in vivo, using combined molecular and genetic manipulations in the mouse brain.
More about the research
Faulty wiring shows up as a hallmark of neurological disorders. Yet how a developing mammalian brain decides which cell connects to which, at the level of genes and molecules, is still largely unknown. Work here aims to uncover that molecular logic.
Why it matters
Altered brain wiring is a common feature of neurological and neurodevelopmental conditions, and the adhesion GPCRs studied here have been tied to autism, ADHD, and cancer while remaining undrugged. Mapping what these receptors do during synapse formation, including in neurons from patients, could reveal molecular targets for conditions in which circuits assemble incorrectly, and supply a basic framework for understanding how behavior arises from connectivity.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Robert Carrillo
University of Chicago, IL·Neuroscience·Early-career
Test how combinations of Dpr and DIP cell surface proteins tell Drosophila motor neurons which muscles to connect to, using single-cell genetic changes in motor neurons that express six DIPs.
Yu-Chieh Chen
Temple University, PA·Neuroscience·Early-career
Test whether the cell adhesion molecules Beat-IIIc and Side-V are required for synapse formation between pale-subtype R7 photoreceptors and their pale Dm8 partner neurons, using CRISPR-based loss-of-function mutations in Drosophila.
Jiakun Chen
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC·Neuroscience
Define how the phospholipid ligand for the Tre1/S1pr1 receptor is regulated in neurons versus astrocytes to direct astrocyte fine process outgrowth, using genetic, chemical and in vivo live-imaging approaches in zebrafish.
The school
Vanderbilt University: 22 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 494 research doctorates a year.
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