Perrin Megan Wilson

B.S., Lafayette College
Riding the Glial Monorail: Astrotactins, Endocytosis and Motility
presented by Mary E. Hatten

Perrin Wilson grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Lafayette College with a strong interest and great expertise in cell biology. She came to my laboratory interested in a very fundamental process of how the brain develops, both the little cortex and the cerebral cortex, and in how cells migrate to make the layers of the brain, much like forming the floors of a building. Some years ago, a number of laboratories defined ligands for binding developing neurons onto their guide cells as they migrate. Then, over the years, all the various ones fell away, except one that some of my friends have accused me of being interested in since kindergarten.
So it seemed appropriate to transit Perrin into molecular studies by taking a look to see whether there were other genes in this family that she might work on. Of course whenever anyone does this, they basically have to take a walk straight off the plank, because the other member of the family turned out to be one of the most complex genes we or anyone else has come across. It is absolutely enormous, which means it must have incredible layers of complexity. But Perrin persevered in studying this gene and in the end found out that it has a completely different modus operandi, and that the previously discovered gene has a secondary family member whose job it is to keep enough of the gene she was studying on the surface.
Instead of binding to another cell — it didn’t do that at all — signals within the young neuron as it migrated along would then tell the cell surface to pull in the connections to the bridge and move along. And so this process of endocytosis is a fundamental change in the way we look at cell motility and therefore Perrin’s thesis has provided a terrifically exciting new chapter in understanding the basis of directed cell migration which underlies the formation of the cortical layers of our brain.
I’m very proud to present her thesis, which is titled “Riding the Glial Monorail: Astrotactins, Endocytosis and Motility.”