David L. Turner, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor
Associate Professor, Deptartment of Biological Chemistry

5051 BSRB
109 Zina Pitcher Place
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2200

dlturner@umich.edu

(734) 647-6890

Current Research Interests:

We study gene regulation and the determination of cell identity during development of the mammalian nervous system. We are interested in understanding how regulatory networks of genes control differentiation and the formation of specific types of neurons during development.

Numerous endogenous small RNAs are essential regulators for genes in mammals. Several hundred genes in mammals encode microRNAs: ~21-22 nucleotide RNAs that regulate the translation and/or stability of target mRNAs via sequence-specific interactions. We have identified microRNAs that can alter cell identity in the developing nervous system and are working to understand how these microRNAs fit into a novel regulatory transcriptional regulatory pathway that modulates interneuron formation during development of the mouse retina.

We use high-throughput sequencing methods (small RNA-seq, PAR-CLIP, RNA-seq) to identify candidate regulatory genes and microRNA targets. We use RNA interference (RNAi), CRISPR/Cas9, and other methods to assess gene function during retinal development in the mouse. We have developed both RNA polymerase III-based and RNA polymerase II-based expression vectors for mammalian RNAi. These vectors can be used to inhibit gene expression in neurons and other cells. We are using these tools to study the function of retinal genes regulated by microRNAs. We also have developed in situ hybridization techniques for visualizing the expression of miRNAs in mammalian tissue sections, and recently have developed an improved miRNA in situ hybridization method based on the hybridization chain reaction.

Selected Publications:

Zhuang P, Zhang H, Welchko RM, Thompson RC, Xu S, Turner DL.
Combined microRNA and mRNA detection in mammalian retinas by in situ hybridization chain reaction.
Submitted 2019.

Liu YH, Tsai JW, Chen JL, Yang WS, Chang PC, Cheng PL, Turner DL, Yanagawa Y, Wang TW, Yu JY.
Ascl1 promotes tangential migration and confines migratory routes by induction of Ephb2 in the telencephalon.
Sci Rep. 2017; 7:42895.

Huang HS, Redmond TM, Kubish GM, Gupta S, Thompson RC, Turner DL, Uhler MD.
Transcriptional regulatory events initiated by Ascl1 and Neurog2 during neuronal differentiation of P19 embryonic carcinoma cells.
J Mol Neurosci. 2015; 55:684-705.

Zhang H, Deo M, Thompson RC, Uhler MD, Turner DL.
Negative regulation of Yap during neuronal differentiation.
Dev Biol. 2012; 361:103-15. Epub 2011 Oct 18.

Yu JY, Chung KH, Deo M, Thompson RC, Turner DL.
MicroRNA miR-124a regulates neurite outgrowth during neuronal differentiation.
Exp Cell Res. 2008; 314:2618-2633.

Thompson RC, Deo M, Turner DL.
Analysis of microRNA expression by in situ hybridization with RNA oligonucleotide probes.
Methods. 2007; 43:153-161.

Deo M, Yu JY, Chung KH, Tippens M, Turner DL.
Detection of mammalian microRNA expression by in situ hybridization with RNA oligonucleotides.
Developmental Dynamics. 2006; 235:2538-48.

Chung KH, Hart CC, Al-Bassam S, Avery A, Taylor J, Patel PD, Vojtek AB, Turner DL.
Polycistronic RNA polymerase II expression vectors for RNA interference based on BIC/miR-155.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2006; 34:e53.

Yu JY, DeRuiter SL, Turner DL.
RNA interference by expression of short-interfering RNAs and hairpin RNAs in mammalian cells.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2002; 99:6047-6052.

Farah MH, Olson JM, Sucic HB, Hume RI, Tapscott SJ, Turner DL.
Generation of neurons by transient expression of neural bHLH proteins in mammalian cells.
Development. 2002; 127:693-702.

View publications on PubMed - NCBI