Karla S. Kent
Ph.D., Harvard University, 1986
Associate Professor, Biological Structure and Function, School of Dentistry
Joint Assistant Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology
The research focus in my laboratory is on the development of the nervous system and the way in which cellular interactions and humoral signals control or influence neuronal form and function. We take advantage of the simplicity of the insect nervous system in order to examine changes that take place at the level of single identifiable neurons during postembryonic development. We have concentrated on the neuromuscular system that controls the thoracic legs of the moth, Manduca sexta. This insect metamorphoses from a caterpillar to a moth via a three-week pupal stage during which the neuromuscular system is reorganized significantly. The tiny thoracic legs of the caterpillar degenerate and are replaced by adult legs of very different form and function. The same motor neurons control the legs at both stages but they are modified dramatically and form new synaptic contacts with sensory neurons, interneurons, and muscles. Hormones, including steroid and peptide hormones, control the process of metamorphosis and appear to act at the level of individual neurons and muscles to trigger developmental changes. We use a combination of intracellular recording and dye-injection methods, anatomical and immunocytochemical methods, and surgical and hormonal manipulations to examine how interactions between different cell types and hormonal signals influence specific morphological features of individual identified neurons both in vivo and in vitro.
- Knittel, L.M., Copenhaver, P.F., Kent, K.S. (2001) Remodeling of motor terminals during metamorphosis of the moth Manduca sexta:. Expression patterns of two distinct isoforms of Manduca fasciclin II. J.Comp. Neurol. 434:69-85
- Kent, K.S., Oland, L.A., and Hildebrand, J.G. (1999) Development of the labial pit organ glomerulus in the antennal lobe of the moth, Manduca sexta: The role of afferent projections in the formation of identifiable olfactory glomeruli. J. Neurobiol. 40:28-44
- Kent K.S., Fjeld C.C., Anderson R. (1996) Leg proprioceptors of the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta: Organization and central projections at larval and adult stages. Microsc. Res.Tech. 35:265-284.