Ava Udvadia
Assistant Professor
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Cell and Molecular Biology, 1989
Ph.D. Duke University,
Molecular Cancer Biology, 1995
Post-doctoral Fellow
Duke University, Neuroscience, 1996-2001
Office: WATER Institute, 225
Lapham SB80
Phone: WATER Institute 414-382-1761Lapham 414-229-3404
FAX: 414-382-1705Email: audvadia@uwm.edu
Vitae:
Research Interests
Unlike mammals, fish have a robust capacity for functional regeneration in their central nervous system after injury. My laboratory is using the zebrafish as a model organism to understand the molecular mechanisms regulating developmental and regenerative axon growth. We are taking two complementary approaches to these questions. First we are studying the regulation of a gene involved in both developmental and regenerative axon growth, GAP-43. Previously we demonstrated that this gene is regulated differently during developmental and regenerative axon growth and are now focused on discovering the signaling pathways that impinge on the gene regulatory elements that mediate regenerative expression. In a second approach we have created a subtraction library enriched in novel sequences that are selectively expressed in neurons undergoing axon growth. In a pilot study we have isolated 178 unique sequences. We are currently using a combination of molecular genetic and live imaging techniques to functionally analyze these genes for a role in neuronal differentiation, axonogenesis and/or synaptogenesis. We are also interested in a similar analysis of sequences that are selectively expressed in newly differentiated and regenerating neurons in the adult CNS.
Specific areas of interest include:
- Identification of gene regulatory elements within genes that are targeted by axon growth signaling pathways during development and regeneration.
- Discovery and characterization of gene transcripts and their encoded products that are enriched in developing and regenerating neurons
- Effects of GAP-43 phosphorylation on axon growth and plasticity in developing and adult zebrafish
- Effects of aquatic contaminants on gene regulation in the developing vertebrate nervous system
Selected Publications
Book Chapter:
Linney, E., and Udvadia, A. J., 2004. Construction and detection of fluorescent germ-line transgenic zebrafish. In "Methods in Molecular Medicine" (H. Schatten, Ed.), Vol. 254, Germ Cell Protocols: Molecular Embryo Analysis, Live Imaging, Transgenesis, and Cloning, pp. 271-288. Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ.Peer-Reviewed Articles:
Brandon W. Kusik, Michael J. Carvan III, Ava J. Udvadia. Detection of Environmental Oxidative Stress using EPRE reporter zebrafish. Marine Biotechnology DOI: 10.1007/s10126-008-9113-x, in press 2008.Ava J. Udvadia, 2008. 3.6 kb genomic sequence from Takifugu capable of promoting axon growth associated gene expression in developing and regenerating zebrafish neurons. Gene Expression Patterns, 8: 382-388.
Ava J. Udvadia and Elwood Linney, 2003. Windows into Development: Historic, Current and Future Perspectives on Transgenic Zebrafish. Developmental Biology, 256: 1-17.
Ava J. Udvadia, Reinhard W. Köster, and J. H. Pate Skene, 2001. GAP-43 Promoter Elements in Transgenic Zebrafish Reveal a Difference in Signals for Axon Growth During CNS Development and Regeneration. Development, 128: 1175-1182.
MANUSCRIPTS IN PROGRESS:
Brandon W. Kusik and Ava J. Udvadia. Differences in distal cis-regulatory sequences of gap43 gene between fish, birds and mammals correlate with CNS regenerative ability. Manuscript in preparation.Angela Schmoldt, Dena Hammond, Jennifer Forecki, and Ava J. Udvadia. Identification and characterization of novel genes expressed during vertebrate axon growth. Manuscript in preparation.