Jonathan A. Raper, Ph.D.
Professor of Neuroscience
Department: Neuroscience
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
1120 BRB II/III
Department of Neuroscience
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021
Department of Neuroscience
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6021
Office: 215-898-2180
Fax: 215 573-7601
Fax: 215 573-7601
Email:
RAPERJ@MAIL.MED.UPENN.EDU
RAPERJ@MAIL.MED.UPENN.EDU
Publications
Education:
B.A. (Psychology)
Harvard College , 1974.
Ph.D. (Cellular Neurophysiology with Daniel Hartline)
University of California at San Diego, 1979.
B.A. (Psychology)
Harvard College , 1974.
Ph.D. (Cellular Neurophysiology with Daniel Hartline)
University of California at San Diego, 1979.
Links
Search PubMed for articles
Cell and Molecular Biology graduate group faculty webpage.
Neuroscience graduate group faculty webpage.
Permanent linkSearch PubMed for articles
Cell and Molecular Biology graduate group faculty webpage.
Neuroscience graduate group faculty webpage.
Description of Research Expertise
Research Interestsdevelopmental neurobiology, especially axon guidance
Key words: axon guidance, developmental neurobiology, Molecular biology; tissue culture; Protein biochemistry; Videomicroscopy, expression cloning; mouse, chick, zebrafish.
Description of Research
We are studying how the growth cones of extending axons navigate through the developing embryo. Growth cones are guided by their responses to specific guidance cues in their environment. Most of these cues can be divided into two general categories: those that promote outgrowth and those that inhibit outgrowth. A major emphasis of ours has been to develop in vitro assays that allow us to characterize, purify, clone, and sequence inhibitory cues that serve as growth cone guidance molecules. recently we have characterized another kind of axonal guidance cue that by itself is neither an attractant or a repellent, but instead acts to modulate the responsiveness of axons to these more traditional cues. Our long term goal is to understand how these cues affect guidance decisions in the developing embryo and regeneration of damaged axons in the mature central nervous system.
Rotation Projects for 2006-2007
For more information on projects in the Raper laboratory
Selected Publications
Chalasani S.H., F. Baribaud, C.M. Coughlan, M.J. Sunshine, V.M.Y. Lee, R.W. Doms, D.R. Littman and J.A. Raper: The chemokine SDF-1 promotes the survival of embryonic retinal ganglion cells. J. Neurosci. 23: 4601-12, 2003.Chalasani, S.H., K.A. Sabelko, M.J. Sunshine, D.R. Littman, and J.A. Raper : A chemokine, SDF-1, reduces the effectiveness of multiple axonal repellents and is required for normal axon pathfinding. J Neurosci. Page: 1360-7, 2003.
Tessier-Lavigne, M, and J.A.Raper: Growth cone guidance. Fundamental Neurosciences, 2nd Edition. Harcourt Brace, 2002.
Brown C.B., L.Feiner, M.M.Lu, J.Li, X.Ma, A.Webber, L.Jia, J.A.Raper and J.A.Epstein: PlexinA2 and semaphorin signaling during cardiac neural crest development. Development 128: 3071-3080, 2001.
Feiner L, Webber AL, Brown CB, Lu MM, Jia L, Feinstein P, Mombaerts P, Epstein J, and Raper JA: Targeted disruption of Semaphorin 3C leads to persistent truncus arteriosus and aortic arch interruption. Development 128: 3061-3070, 2001.
Fu SY., Sharma K., Luo Y., Raper JA., Frank E.: SEMA3A regulates developing sensory projections in the chicken spinal cord. Journal of Neurobiology 45(4): 227-36, Dec 2000.
Renzi MJ., Wexler TL., Raper JA.: Olfactory sensory axons expressing a dominant-negative semaphorin receptor enter the CNS early and overshoot their target. Neuron 28(2): 437-47, 2000.
Niclou SP., Jia L., Raper JA.: Slit2 is a repellent for retinal ganglion cell axons. Journal of Neuroscience 20(13): 4962-74, Jul 1 2000.
Raper JA.: Semaphorins and their receptors in vertebrates and invertebrates. [Review] [44 refs] Current Opinion in Neurobiology 10(1): 88-94, Feb 2000.
Tarantino,L.M., L.Feiner, A.Alavizadeh, T.Wiltshire, B.Hurle, D.M.Ornitz, L.B.Rowe, A.L.Webber, J.A.Raper, A.Lengleling, and M.Bucan: A high resolution radiation hybrid map of the proximal portion of mouse chromosome 5. Genomics 66: 55-64, 2000.