Carla Shatz

Administrative Appointments

• Director, Bio-X (2007 - present)

Honors and Awards

• Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1992)
• Elected Member, European Academy of Sciences and Arts (1992)
• President, Society for Neuroscience (1994)
• Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (1995)
• Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Health and Education, Charles A. Dana Foundation (1995)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Maja Djurisic , Han Mi Lee , Claus Thorsten Naserke

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Neurobiology
• Neurosciences

Web Site Links

• Shatz Lab Site

Current Research Interests

By studying the visual system of mammals, the Shatz Lab discovered that adult wiring emerges from dynamic interactions between neurons involving neural function and synaptic plasticity. Even before birth and long before vision, the eye spontaneously generates and sends coordinated patterns of neural activity to the brain. Blocking this activity in utero, or preventing vision after birth, disrupts normal tuning up of circuits and brain wiring. In turn, neural activity regulates the expression of genes involved in the process of circuit tuning. To discover cell and molecular underpinnings of circuit tuning, her lab has conducted functional screens for genes regulated by neural activity. Among these genes is the MHC (major histocompatibility) Class I family. This finding was very surprising because these genes- HLA genes in humans- are involved in cellular immunity and were previously not thought to be expressed by neurons at all! The Shatz Lab showed that other components of a signaling system for Class I MHC are also present in neurons, including a novel receptor, PirB. By studying and/or generating knockout mice, the lab is exploring a role for these molecules in synaptic plasticity, learning, memory and neurological disorders. The lab employs a variety of approaches in these studies, ranging from molecular biology to slice electrophysiology to in vivo imaging to behavior. Research has relevance not only for understanding brain wiring and developmental disorders such as Autism and Schizphrenia, but also for understanding how the nervous and immune systems interact.

Publications

• Synaptogenesis in purified cortical subplate neurons. McKellar CE, Shatz CJ. Cereb Cortex. 2009; 19 (8): 1723-37
• H2-K(b) and H2-D(b) regulate cerebellar long-term depression and limit motor learning. McConnell MJ, Huang YH, Datwani A, Shatz CJ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009; 106 (16): 6784-9
• Classical MHCI molecules regulate retinogeniculate refinement and limit ocular dominance plasticity. Datwani A, McConnell MJ, Kanold PO, Micheva KD, Busse B, Shamloo M, Smith SJ, Shatz CJ. Neuron. 2009; 64 (4): 463-70
• MHC class I: an unexpected role in neuronal plasticity. Shatz CJ, Neuron. 2009; 64 (1): 40-5
• Co-regulation of ocular dominance plasticity and NMDA receptor subunit expression in glutamic acid decarboxylase-65 knock-out mice. Kanold PO, Kim YA, GrandPre T, Shatz CJ. J Physiol. 2009; 587 (Pt 12): 2857-67