Patrick Callaerts    
VIB Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, K.U.Leuven

PhD: Univ. of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, '92 Postdoc: Biozentrum, Univ. of Basel, Switzerland, '92-'97 Assistant Prof.: Univ. of Houston, Houston, USA, '97-'03 Associate Prof.: Univ. of Houston, Houston, USA, '03-'04 VIB Group leader since 2004

e-mail phone +32 16 34 63 51 ADDRESS

Current team members
Group leader: Patrick Callaerts
Postdoctoral scientists: Bart Dermaut, Carmen Francis, Erik Storkebaum, Jason Clements, Jeroen Poels
Ph.D. Students: Bram Laridon, Els Janssens, Julie Mutert, Lies Vanden Broeck, Liesbet Herteleer, Liesbeth Zwarts, Marc Gistelinck, Marijke Versteven, Ricardo Gonçalves, Tim Goossens
Support personnel: Ann Schellens, Azadeh Izadifar, Inge Bosmans, Ingrid Pintens, Wendy Robyns

Keywords
brain development - Drosophila - transcription factor - neurogenesis - gene circuit

Science
Gene circuits in Drosophila brain development as models for human neurodevelopmental disorders from transcription factors to effector genes and signaling pathways.

The long-term objectives of our research comprise

1. the determination of the complexity of gene circuits required for neuronal identity and connectivity,
2. the analysis of the relationship between target genes and target gene products of a single transcription factor,
3. the analysis of the regulatory sequences that control groups of target genes and the determination of the commonality between the regulatory sequences,
4. the study of the role of the individual target genes in determining neuronal identity and connectivity,
5. the determination of the relative contribution of mutations in the target genes to the phenotypes associated with mutations in the transcription factor, and
6. the identification of gene circuits conserved between Drosophila and human.

The primary potential for applications of the current program is in gene and pathway discovery.  The novel knowledge about brain development disease and neuronal function stemming from this program will lead to the identification of candidate disease genes involved in disorders ranging from microscopic brain defects with associated epilepsies to behavioral alterations.

Press releases
See also press release (22/06/2009): Fruit fly steps in to fight human disease - based on a publication in PNAS (Erik Storkebaum et al., Dominant mutations in the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase gene recapitulate in Drosophila features of human Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy)

Clements J, Lu Z, Gehring W, Meinertzhagen I, Callaerts P
Central projections of photoreceptor axons originating from ectopic eyes in Drosophila
P NATL ACAD SCI USA 105, 8968-73, 2008



Dermaut B, Norga K, Kania A, Verstreken P, Pan H, Zhou Y, Callaerts P, Bellen j
Aberrant lysosomal carbohydrate storage accompanies endocytic defects and neurodegeneration in Drosophila benchwarmer
J CELL BIOL 170, 127-139, 2005



Callaerts P, Leng S, Clements J, Benassayag C, Cribbs D, Kang y, Walldorf U, Fischbach f, Strauss R
Drosophila Pax-6/eyeless is essential for normal adult brain structure and function
J NEUROBIOL 46, 73-88, 2001



Callaerts P, Munoz-Marmol m, Glardon S, Castillo E, Sun H, Li h, Gehring j, Salo E
Isolation and expression of a Pax-6 gene in the regenerating and intact Planarian Dugesia(G)tigrina
P NATL ACAD SCI USA 96, 558-563, 1999



Callaerts P, Halder G, Gehring j
PAX-6 in development and evolution
ANNU REV NEUROSCI 20, 483-532, 1997



Halder G, Callaerts P, Gehring j
Induction of ectopic eyes by targeted expression of the eyeless gene in Drosophila
SCIENCE 267, 1788-1792, 1995

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