Dr. Ekker's main research interests lie in the genetic mechanisms that control development and regeneration, with a special emphasis on the development of dopaminergic and GABAergic populations of neurons in the brain. The Ekker laboratory uses zebrafish as an experimental system. Studies focus on neurogenesis in the normal adult brain but also following neuronal death as a model for Parkinson’s disease. The Ekker laboratory produces lines of transgenic zebrafish and mutants generated by CRISPR-Cas genome editing as tools to study neuronal development and regeneration.
Selected publications
- Kalyn*, M.T. Garvey*, R. Lee, H. Mbesha*, H.A. Jory Curry Saxena, V. Mennigen, J. Ekker, M. (2024). Differential roles of NR4A2 (NURR1) paralogs in the brain and behavior of zebrafish. Journal of Neurochemistry. : 10.1111/jnc.16234. In Press
- Merhi, R*., Kalyn*, M., Zhu-Pawlosky*, A. and Ekker, M. (2021). Loss of parla function results in inactivity, olfactory impairment, and dopamine neuron loss in zebrafish.. Biomedicines. 9: 205.
- Godoy*, R. Hua*, K., Kalyn*, M., Cusson*, V.-M., Anysman, H., Ekker, M. (2020) Dopaminergic neurons regenerate following chemogenetic ablation in the olfactory bulb of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). Scientific Reports, 10:12825
- Yu*, Emily P.Y., Saxena, V*., Perin*, S. Ekker, M. (2023) Loss of dlx5a/dlx6a locusalters non-canonical Wnt signaling and Meckel’s cartilage morphology. Biomolecules, 13, 1347.
- Weinschutz Mendes*, H., Taktek*, M., Duret*, T. and Ekker, M. (2020) Expression of dlx genes in the normal and regenerating brain of adult zebrafish. PLoS One, 15: e0229549 (2020).