in partnership with the Era-Net Neuron
Neurodevelopmental disorders are a group of different conditions in which the development of the central nervous system is disturbed. This includes developmental brain dysfunction, which can manifest as neuropsychiatric problems (Autism Spectrum Disorders, schizophrenia, fragile-X syndrome, down syndrome), or impaired motor function, learning, language or non-verbal communication. The generation of the appropriate diversity of neural cell types, their migration to correct sites in the brain and the establishment of precise connectivity with target cells are key developmental processes that may go awry, leading to brain dysfunction and neurological diseases.
During this advanced 3-week course, we will provide participants with a comprehensive theoretical and experimental/practical training on the most advanced methodologies and models in developmental neurobiology, in health and disease. World experts (both seniors and juniors) in the field of neural stem cells, brain patterning, neuronal migration, axon guidance or the genetics of human neurodevelopmental disorders will give stimulating lectures and design mini-projects to be carried out by the students.
This will give students a unique opportunity to become familiar with cutting-edge in vivo gene manipulation methods (electroporation, Crispr/Cas9, genetics…), 3D imaging technologies (SPIM and light sheet microscopy, tissue clearing, two-photon imaging…), time-lapse microscopy and cell tracking, advanced pluripotent stem cell culture (iPSCs, cortical progenitors and neurons derived thereof, organoids, organotypics…).
Directors & co-directors
- Alain Chedotal (Institut de la Vision, Sorbonne University, France)
- Eloisa Herrera (Neuroscience Institute Alicante, Spain)
- Julia Ladewig (Institute of Reconstructive Neurobiology, University of Bonn, Germany)
- Mireille Montcouquiol (Bordeaux Neurocampus, France)
Shahad Albadri (France)
Filippo del Bene (France)
Nicolas Dray (France)
Joaquim Egea (Spain)
Julien Falk (France)
Sacramento Ferron (Spain)
Paolo Giacobini (France)
Yorick Gitton (France)
Eloisa Herrera (Spain)
Cruz Morenilla (Spain)
Julia Ladewig (Germany)
Olivia Krefft (Germany)
Karine Loulier (France)
Javier Morante (Spain)
Xavier Nicol (France)
Emily Pacary (France)
Nicolas Renier (France)
Rita Sousa-Nunes (UK)
Carla Silva (Belgium)
Noelia Urban (Austria)
- Crispr/Cas9 transgenesis in zebrafish
- Spatio-temporal analysis of neural stem cells activation and division
- Growth cone collapse assay in dissociated cortical neurons to assess the repulsive effect of axon guidance cues
- Using the chick embryo to study axon guidance from spinal cord neurons
- Co-culture of neural stem cells (NSCs) with choroid plexus (CP) to determine the role of CP-born molecules on adult neurogenesis
- Manipulation and 3D-imaging of neurons controlling fertility
- Eye morphogenesis: contribution of neural crest cells in chick embryo
- Visualisation and analysis of axonal outgrowth from mouse retinal ganglion cells
- Pluripotent stem cell derived forebrain-type cerebral organoids as a tool to study human cortical development
- Astrocytic coverage of brain vasculature in the mouse embryonic cerebral cortex
- Larval neurogenesis in drosophila: analysis of neural progenitors/postmitotic cells
- Imaging living cells: axon guidance cue-‐induced growth cone collapse and FRET imaging to monitor intracellular signalling
- In utero electroporation of the cerebral cortex to study radial migration of projection neurons
- Brain-wide changes to the distribution of neuronal activity following a long-term sensory deprivation
- Regulation of neural stem cell quiescence
- Generation of embryonic and adult neural stem cell cultures for the study of quiescence and differentiation
- Fine analysis of interneuron migration during the period of corticogenesis in mice
Keynote speakers
Herwig Baier (Max Plank Institute Neurobiology, Germany)
Paola Bovolenta (Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain)
Fiona Doetsch (University of Basel, Switzerland)
Elizabeth Engle (Harvard Medical School, USA)
Yukiko Gotoh (University of Tokyo, Japan)
John Rubenstein (University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, USA)
Fanny Mann (Developmental Biology Institute of Marseille, France)
Oscar Marin (King’s college London, UK)
Laurent Nguyen (University of Liège, Belgium)
Dietmar Schmucker (VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research, Belgium)
Esther Stoeckli (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Pierre Vanderhaeghen (University of Brussels, Belgium)