Positions
- Associate Professor
-
Pathology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US
- Associate Professor
-
Neuroscience
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas United States
Addresses
- Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Office)
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Room: DNRI-1325
Houston, TX 77030
United States
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
- 12/2008 - New York, New York United States
- Postdoctoral Fellowship at New York University School of Medicine
- 12/2006 - New York, New York United States
- Postdoctoral Fellowship at University Of Oxford
- 12/2004 - Oxford, United Kingdom
- Ph.D. from University Of Calgary
- 01/2003 - Calgary, Canada
Professional Interests
- Developmental origins of neurological diseases; ataxia; dystonia; tremor; in vivo electrophysiology; deep brain stimulation; genetics
Professional Statement
The major goal of my research is to determine the biological bases underlying pediatric neurological diseases. Precise neural circuitry is required for proper brain function. Over the last decade I have shown that circuit organization is a fundamental feature of the mammalian brain and genetic defects that disrupt the formation of organized circuits may cause behavioral deficits observed in human conditions. My current efforts are focused on establishing a wiring diagram for brain circuit map alterations in mouse models of ataxia, dystonia, and tremor.There has been much progress in identifying genes that are thought to be susceptibility loci in for specific conditions. Despite our rapidly advancing knowledge of the genetic mechanisms underlying these disorders, we do not have a clear picture of what cellular and molecular mechanisms guide neural circuit mis-wiring nor do we appreciate how neural signals are encoded in these defective circuit maps. We see a fundamental problem arising. If we do not understand how brain connectivity is affected, no therapy can be tailored to treat these devastating neurological disorders.
To this end, I am using a combination of mouse molecular genetics, neuroanatomical tract tracing and various developmental biology approaches to investigate the developmental origins of disorders that affect circuit formation. Moreover, we are incorporating into our studies novel in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics, and deep brain stimulation (DBS) techniques, which will expedite our understanding of how neuronal activity and morphogenetic programs are integrated with gene networks to form functional brain circuits. Using these approaches we have found key circuit pathways that may control brain behavior in multiple disorders and we have uncovered interesting new avenues for restoring motor behavior by modulating brain function.
Websites
VIICTR Research Database
Selected Publications
- Sillitoe RV, Benson MA, Blake DJ, Hawkes R "Abnormal dysbindin expression in cerebellar mossy fiber synapses in the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.." J. Neurosci. 2003 Jul 23;23(16):6576-85. Pubmed PMID: 12878699
- Marzban H, Sillitoe RV, Hoy M, Chung SH, Rafuse VF, Hawkes R "Abnormal HNK-1 expression in the cerebellum of an N-CAM null mouse.." J. Neurocytol. 2004 Jan;33(1):117-30. Pubmed PMID: 15173636
- Sillitoe RV "An introduction to journal club in the cerebellum.." Cerebellum. 2012 Dec;11(4):828. Pubmed PMID: 23086707
- Sillitoe RV, Hulliger M, Dyck R, Hawkes R "Antigenic compartmentation of the cat cerebellar cortex.." Brain Res. 2003 Jul 4;977(1):41289. Pubmed PMID: 12788507
- Sillitoe RV, Malz CR, Rockland K, Hawkes R "Antigenic compartmentation of the primate and tree shrew cerebellum: a common topography of zebrin II in Macaca mulatta and Tupaia belangeri.." J. Anat. 2004 Apr;204(4):257-69. Pubmed PMID: 15061752
- Reeber SL, White JJ, George-Jones NA, Sillitoe RV "Architecture and development of olivocerebellar circuit topography.." Front Neural Circuits. 2012;6:115. Pubmed PMID: 23293588
- Sakai N, Insolera R, Sillitoe RV, Shi SH, Kaprielian Z "Axon Sorting within the Spinal Cord Marginal Zone via Robo-Mediated Inhibition of N-Cadherin Controls Spinocerebellar Tract Formation.." J. Neurosci. 2012 Oct 31;32(44):15377-87. Pubmed PMID: 23115176
- Oberdick J, Sillitoe RV "Cerebellar zones: history, development, and function.." Cerebellum. 2011 Sep;10(3):301-6. Pubmed PMID: 21822545
- Sanchez M, Sillitoe RV, Attwell PJ, Ivarsson M, Rahman S, Yeo CH, Hawkes R "Compartmentation of the rabbit cerebellar cortex.." J. Comp. Neurol. 2002 Mar 5;444(2):159-73. Pubmed PMID: 11835188
- Sillitoe RV, Marzban H, Larouche M, Zahedi S, Affanni J, Hawkes R "Conservation of the architecture of the anterior lobe vermis of the cerebellum across mammalian species.." Prog. Brain Res. 2005;148:283-97. Pubmed PMID: 15661197
- Sillitoe RV, Vogel MW "Desire, disease, and the origins of the dopaminergic system.." Schizophr Bull. 2008 Mar;34(2):212-9. Pubmed PMID: 18283047
- Sillitoe RV, Gopal N, Joyner AL "Embryonic origins of ZebrinII parasagittal stripes and establishment of topographic Purkinje cell projections.." Neuroscience. 2009 Sep 1;162(3):574-88. Pubmed PMID: 19150487
- Sillitoe RV, Stephen D, Lao Z, Joyner AL "Engrailed homeobox genes determine the organization of Purkinje cell sagittal stripe gene expression in the adult cerebellum.." J. Neurosci. 2008 Nov 19;28(47):12150-62. Pubmed PMID: 19020009
- Sillitoe RV, Vogel MW, Joyner AL "Engrailed homeobox genes regulate establishment of the cerebellar afferent circuit map.." J. Neurosci. 2010 Jul 28;30(30):10015-24. Pubmed PMID: 20668186
- Reeber SL, Gebre SA, Sillitoe RV "Fluorescence mapping of afferent topography in three dimensions.." Brain Struct Funct. 2011 Sep;216(3):159-69. Pubmed PMID: 21387082
- Sillitoe RV, Chung SH, Fritschy JM, Hoy M, Hawkes R "Golgi cell dendrites are restricted by Purkinje cell stripe boundaries in the adult mouse cerebellar cortex.." J. Neurosci. 2008 Mar 12;28(11):2820-6. Pubmed PMID: 18337412
- Sillitoe RV, Joyner AL "Morphology, molecular codes, and circuitry produce the three-dimensional complexity of the cerebellum.." Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 2007;23:549-77. Pubmed PMID: 17506688
- Demilly A, Reeber SL, Gebre SA, Sillitoe RV "Neurofilament heavy chain expression reveals a unique parasagittal stripe topography in the mouse cerebellum.." Cerebellum. 2011 Sep;10(3):409-21. Pubmed PMID: 20127431
- Gebre SA, Reeber SL, Sillitoe RV "Parasagittal compartmentation of cerebellar mossy fibers as revealed by the patterned expression of vesicular glutamate transporters VGLUT1 and VGLUT2.." Brain Struct Funct. 2012 Apr;217(2):165-80. Pubmed PMID: 21814870
- Reeber SL, Sillitoe RV "Patterned expression of a cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript peptide reveals complex circuit topography in the rodent cerebellar cortex.." J. Comp. Neurol. 2011 Jun 15;519(9):1781-96. Pubmed PMID: 21452228
- Sarna JR, Larouche M, Marzban H, Sillitoe RV, Rancourt DE, Hawkes R "Patterned Purkinje cell degeneration in mouse models of Niemann-Pick type C disease.." J. Comp. Neurol. 2003 Feb 10;456(3):279-91. Pubmed PMID: 12528192
- White JJ, Sillitoe RV "Postnatal development of cerebellar zones revealed by neurofilament heavy chain protein expression.." Front Neuroanat. 2013;7:9. Pubmed PMID: 23675325
- Chung SH, Sillitoe RV, Croci L, Badaloni A, Consalez G, Hawkes R "Purkinje cell phenotype restricts the distribution of unipolar brush cells.." Neuroscience. 2009 Dec 29;164(4):1496-508. Pubmed PMID: 19800947
- Reeber SL, Gebre SA, Filatova N, Sillitoe RV "Revealing neural circuit topography in multi-color.." J Vis Exp. 2011(57) Pubmed PMID: 22105327
- Benson MA, Sillitoe RV, Blake DJ "Schizophrenia genetics: dysbindin under the microscope.." Trends Neurosci. 2004 Sep;27(9):516-9. Pubmed PMID: 15331232
- Esapa CT, Waite A, Locke M, Benson MA, Kraus M, McIlhinney RA, Sillitoe RV, Beesley PW, Blake DJ "SGCE missense mutations that cause myoclonus-dystonia syndrome impair epsilon-sarcoglycan trafficking to the plasma membrane: modulation by ubiquitination and torsinA.." Hum. Mol. Genet. 2007 Feb 1;16(3):327-42. Pubmed PMID: 17200151
- Jeong YG, Rosales JL, Marzban H, Sillitoe RV, Park DG, Hawkes R, Lee KY "The cyclin-dependent kinase 5 activator, p39, is expressed in stripes in the mouse cerebellum.." Neuroscience. 2003;118(2):323-34. Pubmed PMID: 12699769
- Larouche M, Diep C, Sillitoe RV, Hawkes R "Topographical anatomy of the cerebellum in the guinea pig, Cavia porcellus.." Brain Res. 2003 Mar 7;965(41276):159-69. Pubmed PMID: 12591133
- Sillitoe RV, Hawkes R "Whole-mount immunohistochemistry: a high-throughput screen for patterning defects in the mouse cerebellum.." J. Histochem. Cytochem. 2002 Feb;50(2):235-44. Pubmed PMID: 11799142
- White JJ, Reeber SL, Hawkes R, Sillitoe RV "Wholemount immunohistochemistry for revealing complex brain topography.." J Vis Exp. 2012(62) Pubmed PMID: 22508094
- Strømme P, Dobrenis K, Sillitoe RV, Gulinello M, Ali NF, Davidson C, Micsenyi MC, Stephney G, Ellevog L, Klungland A, Walkley SU "X-linked Angelman-like syndrome caused by Slc9a6 knockout in mice exhibits evidence of endosomal-lysosomal dysfunction.." Brain. 2011 Nov;134:3369-83. Pubmed PMID: 21964919
- Sillitoe RV, Künzle H, Hawkes R "Zebrin II compartmentation of the cerebellum in a basal insectivore, the Madagascan hedgehog tenrec Echinops telfairi.." J. Anat. 2003 Sep;203(3):283-96. Pubmed PMID: 14529046
- "An optimized surgical approach for obtaining stable extracellular single-unit recordings from the cerebellum of head-fixed behaving mice.."
- "Pathogenesis of severe ataxia and tremor without the typical signs of neurodegeneration.."
- "An optimized surgical approach for obtaining stable extracellular single-unit recordings from the cerebellum of head-fixed behaving mice.."
- "Mossy Fibers Terminate Directly Within Purkinje Cell Zones During Mouse Development.."
- "Knowledge gaps and research recommendations for essential tremor.."
- "Consensus Paper: Cerebellar Development.."
- "α-Synuclein expression in the mouse cerebellum is restricted to VGluT1 excitatory terminals and is enriched in unipolar brush cells.."
- "A voltage-gated calcium channel regulates lysosomal fusion with endosomes and autophagosomes and is required for neuronal homeostasis.."
- "Bergmann Glia are Patterned into Topographic Molecular Zones in the Developing and Adult Mouse Cerebellum.."
- "Cerebellar zonal patterning relies on Purkinje cell neurotransmission.."
- "In vivo analysis of Purkinje cell firing properties during postnatal mouse development.."
- "New roles for the cerebellum in health and disease.."
- "Pumilio1 haploinsufficiency leads to SCA1-like neurodegeneration by increasing wild-type Ataxin1 levels.."
- "Redefining the cerebellar cortex as an assembly of non-uniform Purkinje cell microcircuits.."
- "The small GTPases RhoA and Rac1 regulate cerebellar development by controlling cell morphogenesis, migration and foliation.."
- "Development of the cerebellum: from gene expression patterns to circuit maps.."
- "Establishment of topographic circuit zones in the cerebellum of scrambler mutant mice.."
Memberships
- Society for Neuroscience
- American Physiological Society
- Society for Research on the Cerebellum and Ataxias
Funding
- Synaptic origins of cerebellar disease - #NS089664 Grant funding from NINDS
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