Sample from Spring 2012, will be updated the next semester this course is
offered!
NGG 578/BIOL488 Advanced Topics in Behavioral Genetics (1.0 cu): Course
Directors: Ted Abel, Maja Bucan, Robert Schultz
Ted Abel <abele@sas.upenn.edu>
Maja Bucan<bucan@pobox.upenn.edu>
Robert Schultz <schultzrt@email.chop.edu>
Course meets on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 4:30
Location: TRC 10-146AB (Perelman Bldg).
Classes begin Jan 17
Spring break March 3 to 11
Classes end April 24
Spring semester ends May 8
This consists of two 0.5 cu courses called:
NGG 600-008 Behavioral Genetics of Psychiatric Disorders (0.5 cu)
Course Directors: Ted Abel, Maja Bucan
This course focuses on the use of genetic techniques to study the molecular and cellular
bases of behavior. Reverse genetic approaches utilizing gene knockout and transgenic
technology and forward genetic approaches using mutagenesis and quantitative genetic
techniques will be discussed, as well as application of these studies to different model
organisms. Genetic approaches to behavior and complex disease in humans will be
illustrated with lectures and papers (student presentations) on neurodegenerative
disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.
NGG 600-009 Neurodevelopmental Disorders (0.5 cu):
Course Director: Robert Schultz
This survey course will provide an introduction to autism and other neurodevelopmental
disorders. The class will include clinical descriptions of autism and closely related
disorders, such as Fragile X syndrome, for which there are now well developed model
systems. It will be team taught by experts in each of the content areas covered,
including psychology, neurology, genetics, animal modeling, cognitive neuroscience.
The scope will be from genes, to brain, to behavior to treatment.
Sample from Spring 2012, will be updated the next semester this course is
offered!
NGG 600008 Behavioral Genetics of Psychiatric Disorders (0.5 cu)
Course Directors: Ted Abel and Maja Bucan
1) Tuesday January 17. Course Overview and Introduction.
Ted Abel and Maja Bucan
2) Tuesday January 24. Reverse and Forward Genetics and Positional Cloning.
Maja Bucan
Background reading:
Justice MJ, Siracusa LD, Stewart AF. (2011) Technical approaches for mouse
models of human disease. Dis Model Mech. 4(3):305-10.
Acevedo-Arozena A, Wells S, Potter P, Kelly M, Cox RD, Brown SD. (2008) ENU
mutagenesis, a way forward to understand gene function. Annu Rev Genomics
Hum Genet. 2008;9:49-69. Review.
Papers for Student Presentations:
Peça J, Feliciano C, Ting JT, Wang W, Wells MF, Venkatraman TN, Lascola CD,
Fu Z, Feng G. (2011) Shank3 mutant mice display autistic-like behaviours and
striatal dysfunction. Nature. 472(7344):437-42.
Speca DJ, Chihara D, Ashique AM, Bowers MS, Pierce-Shimomura JT, Lee J,
Rabbee N, Speed TP, Gularte RJ, Chitwood J, Medrano JF, Liao M, Sonner JM,
Eger EI 2nd, Peterson AS, McIntire SL. (2010) Conserved role of unc-79 in
ethanol responses in lightweight mutant mice. PLoS Genet. 2010 Aug 12;6(8).
pii: e1001057.
3) Tuesday January 31. Introduction to Association and Linkage Analysis.
Marcella Devoto
Background reading:
Ingrid B. Borecki and Michael A. Province. 2008. Linkage and Association: Basic
Concepts. Advances in Genetics, Vol. 60 51-74.
M Dawn Teare, Jennifer H Barrett. 2005. Genetic Epidemiology 2. Genetic
linkage studies. Lancet 366: 1036–44.
McCarthy MI, Abecasis GR, Cardon LR, Goldstein DB, Little J, Ioannidis JP,
Hirschhorn JN. (2008) Genome-wide association studies for complex traits:
consensus, uncertainty and challenges. Nat Rev Genet. 9(5):356-69.
Papers for Student Presentations:
Sample from Spring 2012, will be updated the next semester this course is
offered!
Jianxin Shi, et al. (2009). Common variants on chromosome 6p22.1 are
associated with schizophrenia. Nature 460|6 August doi:10.1038/nature08192.
Badner JA, Koller D, Foroud T, Edenberg H, Nurnberger JI Jr, Zandi PP, Willour
VL, McMahon FJ, Potash JB, Hamshere M, Grozeva D, Green E, Kirov G, Jones
I, Jones L, Craddock N, Morris D, Segurado R, Gill M, Sadovnick D, Remick R,
Keck P, Kelsoe J, Ayub M, Maclean A, Blackwood D, Liu CY, Gershon ES,
McMahon W, Lyon GJ, Robinson R, Ross J, Byerley W. (2011) Genome-wide
linkage analysis of 972 bipolar pedigrees using single-nucleotide polymorphisms.
Mol Psychiatry.1038/mp.2011.89. [Epub ahead of print]
3) Tuesday February 7. Neurodegenerative Disorders.
Alice Chen-Plotkin
Background reading:
Seelaar H et al. Clinical, genetic, and pathological heterogeneity of frontotemporal
dementia: a review http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20971753. JNNP 2011
May;82(5):476-86. Epub 2010 Oct 22.
Papers for Student Presentations:
(Students will be asked to rank-order these in terms of how convincing they are, so
please evaluate them in this way)
Baker M, Mackenzie IR, Pickering-Brown SM, et al. Mutations in progranulin cause
tau-negative frontotemporal dementia linked to chromosome 17. Nature 2006;
442:916-9.
Gitcho MA, Baloh RH, Chakraverty S, et al. TDP-43 A315T mutation in familial
motor neuron disease. Ann Neurol 2008; 63(4): 535-8.
DeJesus-Hernandez et al. Expanded GGGGCC Hexanucleotide repeat in
noncoding region of C9ORF72 causes chromosome 9p-linked FTD and ALS.
Neuron. 2011 Oct 20;72(2):245-56. Epub 2011 Sep 21.
4) Tuesday February 14. Molecular Basis of Circadian Behavior.
Amita Sehgal
Background reading:
Nitabach MN, Taghert PH. Organization of the Drosophila circadian control
circuit. Curr Biol. 2008 Jan 22;18(2):R84-93.
Mohawk, J. A. & Takahashi, J. S. Cell autonomy and synchrony of
suprachiasmatic nucleus circadian oscillators. Trends Neurosci 34, 349-358,
(2011).
Sample from Spring 2012, will be updated the next semester this course is
offered!
Paper s for Student Presentations:
Stoleru D, Peng Y, Nawathean P, Rosbash M. (2005) A resetting signal between
Drosophila pacemakers synchronizes morning and evening activity. Nature.
438:238-42.
Liu, A. C. et al. Intercellular coupling confers robustness against mutations in the
SCN circadian clock network. Cell 129, 605-616 (2007).
5) Tuesday February 21. Quantitative Trait Loci.
Ted Brodkin
Background reading:
Chapter 5, “Inheritance of complex traits” from Principles of Genetics, Third
Edition, D. P. Snustad and M. J. Simmons, J. Wiley and Sons, 2003, pp. 90-113.
Flint J. 2011 Mapping quantitative trains and strategies to find quantitative train
genes. Methods 53:163-174.
Papers for Student Presentations
Yalcin et al 2004 Genetic dissection of a behavioral quantitative trait locus shows
that Rgs2 modulates anxiety in mice. Nature Genetics 36:1197-1200
Singer JB, Hill AE, Nadeau JH, Lander ES. (2005) Mapping quantitative trait loci
for anxiety in chromosome substitution strains of mice. Genetics. 169:855-62.
6) Tuesday February 28. Behavioral Epigenetics.
Ted Abel
Tuesday March 6 SPRING BREAK NO CLASS
Sample from Spring 2012, will be updated the next semester this course is
offered!
NGG 600009 Neurodevelopmental Disorders (0.5 cu):
Course Director: Robert Schultz
Tuesday March 13
Tuesday March 20
Tuesday March 27
Tuesday April 3
Tuesday April 10
Tuesday April 17
Tuesday April 24