My laboratory has been focusing on the role of the nerve growth factor (NGF) family of neurotrophins in the early stages of neuronal development. In addition to NGF, this family includes brain-derived neurotrophic factor, neurotrophin-3 and neurotrophin-4/5. We have determined that receptors for these neurotrophins appear during the initial formation of the nervous system, and we have been examining the role of neurotrophins in the neural plate, neural crest and several peripheral ganglia (dorsal root ganglia, sympathetic ganglia, cochlear and vestibular ganglia). In particular, we have been concentrating on the neural crest cells that contribute to the formation of the heart. We are using both in vitro and in vivo techniques to determine whether neurotrophins elicit effects on such parameters as survival, neurite outgrowth, speed of migration, and neurotransmitter levels. I am currently receiving funding from the Rosenfeld Heart Foundation.
With respect to teaching, in the medical school I am the Block Director for the Musculoskeletal Block and Discipline Director for Gross Anatomy. I also teach Embryology in the medical school. In the graduate school, I teach in the Molecular and Cellular Biology course.
SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Bernd, P., Miles, K., Rozenberg, I., Borghjid, S. and Kirby, M.L (2004). Neurotrophin-3 and TrkC are expressed in the outflow tract of the developing chicken heart. Dev. Dynam. 230:767-772.
Brumwell, C.L., Hossain, W.A., Morest, D.K., and Bernd, P. (2000). Role for basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) in tyrosine kinase (TrkB) expression in the early development and innervation of the auditory receptor: in vitro and in situ studies. Exp. Neurol. 162:121-145.
Bernd, P. and Li, R. (1999). Differential expression of trkC mRNA in the chicken embryo from gastrulation to development of secondary brain vesicles. Dev. Brain Res. 116:205-209.
Li, R. and Bernd, P. (1999). Neurotrophin-3 increases neurite outgrowth and apoptosis in explants of the chicken neural plate. Dev. Neurosci. 21:12-21.
Bernd, P., Rozenberg, I., Speight, J., Yao, L., and Zhang, D. (1998). The role of nerve growth factor and other neurotrophins in the formation and early development of avian sensory dorsal root ganglia. In Neurotrophins and the Neural Crest (M. Sieber-Blum, ed.), CRC Press, pp. 95-115.
Qiu, L., Towle, M. F., Bernd, P., and Fukada, K. (1997). Distribution of cholinergic neuronal differentiation factor/leukemia inhibitory factor binding sites in the developing and adult rat nervous system in vivo. J. Neurobiol. 32:163-192.
Yao, L., Zhang, D., and Bernd, P. (1997). Differential regulation of substance P by all members of the NGF family of neurotrophins in avian dorsal root ganglia throughout development. Neurosci. 79:1197-1206.