Member of the Graduate Groups of Genetics, Biophysics, Neuroscience,  Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Member of the Rowe Program 

Welcome to the LaSalle Lab's Homepage. Our laboratory is interested in the role of epigenetics in human autism-spectrum disorders. Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in chromosomes that are not encoded in the DNA sequence, including DNA methylation and chromatin organization. The clinical applications of our research include understanding the pathogenesis of the neurodevelopmental disorders autism, Rett syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome. Our laboratory has recently focused on a protein that binds to methylated DNA, methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2). The gene for MECP2 is on the X chromosome and is mutated in Rett syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders. We are currently testing the role of MeCP2 in the regulation of gene expression and the organization of parentally imprinted chromosomes. We are also investigating the role of MeCP2 in chromatin dynamics neuronal ontogeny during post-natal neuronal maturation in the cerebral cortex.

Dag Yasui, Ph.D., Project Scientist
Susan Swanberg, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Mike Gonzales, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Haley Scoles, Junior Specialist
Amber Hogart, Genetics graduate student
Karen Thatcher, Genetics graduate student
Christy Campbell, Genetics graduate student
Malaika Singleton, Neuroscience graduate student
Roxanne Vallero, Junior Specialist

LaSalle JM.  2007.  The Odyssey of MeCP2 and Parental Imprinting.  Epigenetics.  2:5-10.

Hogart A, Nagarajan RP, Patzel KA, Yasui DH, LaSalle JM.  2007.  15q11-13 GABA_A receptor genes are normally biallelically expressed in brain yet are subject to epigenetic dysregulation in autism-spectrum disorders.  Hum. Mol. Genet.  16:691-703.

Yasui DH, Peddada S, Bieda MC, Vallero RO, Hogart A, Nagarajan RP, Thatcher KN, Farnham PJ, LaSalle JM.  2007.  Integrated epigenomic analyses of neuronal MeCP2 reveal a role for long-range interaction with active genes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.  104:19416-19421.

Nagarajan RP, Hogart A, Gwye Y, Martin M, LaSalle JM. Reduced MeCP2 expression is frequent in autism frontal cortex and correlates with aberrant MECP2 promoter methylation. Epigenetics 4:172-182. 2006

Peddada S, Yasui DH, LaSalle, JM. Inhibitors of differentiation (ID1, ID2, ID3, ID4) genes are neuronal targets of MeCP2 that are elevated in Rett syndrome. Hum. Mol. Genet. 15:2003-2014. 2006

Thatcher KN, LaSalle JM. Dynamic changes in Histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation localization patterns during neuronal maturation require MeCP2. Epigenetics 1:24-31. 2006

LaSalle JM, Hogart A, Thatcher KN. Rett Syndrome: A Rosetta Stone for Understanding the Molecular Pathogenesis of Autism, in Internat. Rev. of Neurobiology, D. Dhossche, ed. Hum. Mol. Genet. 14:785-797. 2005

Samaco RC, Hogart A, LaSalle JM. Epigenetic overlap in autism-spectrum neurodevelopmental disorders: MECP2 deficiency causes reduced expression of UBE3A and GABRB3. Hum. Mol. Genet. 13:1275-1286. 2004

Samaco RC, Nagarajan RP, Braunschweig D, LaSalle JM. Multiple pathways regulate MeCP2 expression in normal human brain development and exhibit defects in autism-spectrum disorders. Hum. Mol. Genet. 13:629-639. 2004

• UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute
• Compucyte Laser Scanning Cytometer
• Rett Syndrome Research Foundation
• Epigenetics Society