Thomas Schwarz

Thomas Schwarz, PhD

Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology

The Schwarz lab studies the cell biology of neurons and seeks to understand how nerve cells work, acquire their shape, and make their connections. We do so with the expectation that understanding how the cell functions can give us insight into the pathology of neurological disorders when those functions fail. Moreover, much as the shape and style of a building is constrained and influenced by the properties of the building materials, so too is the architecture and circuitry of the brain dependent on how these cellular components operate.

The research interests of the Schwarz Lab include 1) axonal transport of organelles, particularly mitochondria, by kinesins and dynein; 2) the development and structural plasticity of synapses; and 3) the trafficking of membrane proteins and exocytosis, particularly in neurons. Our inquiries into these fundamental processes have brought us in contact with translational questions of neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The etiology of Parkinson's Disease and peripheral neuropathies have become a particular concern of our group.

Projects move back and forth between Drosophila melanogaster, mice, rats, and cell lines as the scientific question demands. We approach each question through a combination of genetics, biochemistry, electrophysiology, cell biology, and imaging. In a recent study, for example, we investigated the role of the small GTPase Ral in the plastic modulation of the Drosophila neuromuscular junction to take advantage of the many genetic tools. The lessons of those experiments are now being used to study how Ral may function in hippocampal dendritic spines. Similarly, through Drosophila genetics, we uncovered a central component of the motor/adaptor complex that allows mitochondria to move. That discovery has led to extensive studies in mammalian cells of how mitochondrial movement is regulated in axons and during mitosis.

"Our inquiries into these fundamental processes have brought us in contact with translational questions of neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The etiology of Parkinson's Disease and peripheral neuropathies have become a particular concern of our group."

Publications View
The light-sensitive dimerizer zapalog reveals distinct modes of immobilization for axonal mitochondria.
Authors: Authors: Gutnick A, Banghart MR, West ER, Schwarz TL.
Nat Cell Biol
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Kinetochore Proteins Have a Post-Mitotic Function in Neurodevelopment.
Authors: Authors: Zhao G, Oztan A, Ye Y, Schwarz TL.
Dev Cell
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Search for the Exotic Meson X(5568) with the Collider Detector at Fermilab.
Authors: Authors: Aaltonen T, Amerio S, Amidei D, Anastassov A, Annovi A, Antos J, Apollinari G, Appel JA, Arisawa T, Artikov A, Asaadi J, Ashmanskas W, Auerbach B, Aurisano A, Azfar F, Badgett W, Bae T, Barbaro-Galtieri A, Barnes VE, Barnett BA, Barria P, Bartos P, Bauce M, Bedeschi F, Behari S, Bellettini G, Bellinger J, Benjamin D, Beretvas A, Bhatti A, Bland KR, Blumenfeld B, Bocci A, Bodek A, Bortoletto D, Boudreau J, Boveia A, Brigliadori L, Bromberg C, Brucken E, Budagov J, Budd HS, Burkett K, Busetto G, Bussey P, Butti P, Buzatu A, Calamba A, Camarda S, Campanelli M, Canelli F, Carls B, Carlsmith D, Carosi R, Carrillo S, Casal B, Casarsa M, Castro A, Catastini P, Cauz D, Cavaliere V, Cerri A, Cerrito L, Chen YC, Chertok M, Chiarelli G, Chlachidze G, Cho K, Chokheli D, Clark A, Clarke C, Convery ME, Conway J, Corbo M, Cordelli M, Cox CA, Cox DJ, Cremonesi M, Cruz D, Cuevas J, Culbertson R, d'Ascenzo N, Datta M, de Barbaro P, Demortier L, Deninno M, D'Errico M, Devoto F, Di Canto A, Di Ruzza B, Dittmann JR, Donati S, D'Onofrio M, Dorigo M, Driutti A, Ebina K, Edgar R, Elagin A, Erbacher R, Errede S, Esham B, Farrington S, Fernández Ramos JP, Field R, Flanagan G, Forrest R, Franklin M, Freeman JC, Frisch H, Funakoshi Y, Galloni C, Garfinkel AF, Garosi P, Gerberich H, Gerchtein E, Giagu S, Giakoumopoulou V, Gibson K, Ginsburg CM, Giokaris N, Giromini P, Glagolev V, Glenzinski D, Gold M, Goldin D, Golossanov A, Gomez G, Gomez-Ceballos G, Goncharov M, González López O, Gorelov I, Goshaw AT, Goulianos K, Gramellini E, Grosso-Pilcher C, Guimaraes da Costa J, Hahn SR, Han JY, Happacher F, Hara K, Hare M, Harr RF, Harrington-Taber T, Hatakeyama K, Hays C, Heinrich J, Herndon M, Hocker A, Hong Z, Hopkins W, Hou S, Hughes RE, Husemann U, Hussein M, Huston J, Introzzi G, Iori M, Ivanov A, James E, Jang D, Jayatilaka B, Jeon EJ, Jindariani S, Jones M, Joo KK, Jun SY, Junk TR, Kambeitz M, Kamon T, Karchin PE, Kasmi A, Kato Y, Ketchum W, Keung J, Kilminster B, Kim DH, Kim HS, Kim JE, Kim MJ, Kim SH, Kim SB, Kim YJ, Kim YK, Kimura N, Kirby M, Kondo K, Kong DJ, Konigsberg J, Kotwal AV, Kreps M, Kroll J, Kruse M, Kuhr T, Kurata M, Laasanen AT, Lammel S, Lancaster M, Lannon K, Latino G, Lee HS, Lee JS, Leo S, Leone S, Lewis JD, Limosani A, Lipeles E, Lister A, Liu Q, Liu T, Lockwitz S, Loginov A, Lucchesi D, Lucà A, Lueck J, Lujan P, Lukens P, Lungu G, Lys J, Lysak R, Madrak R, Maestro P, Malik S, Manca G, Manousakis-Katsikakis A, Marchese L, Margaroli F, Marino P, Matera K, Mattson ME, Mazzacane A, Mazzanti P, McNulty R, Mehta A, Mehtala P, Mesropian C, Miao T, Mietlicki D, Mitra A, Miyake H, Moed S, Moggi N, Moon CS, Moore R, Morello MJ, Mukherjee A, Muller T, Murat P, Mussini M, Nachtman J, Nagai Y, Naganoma J, Nakano I, Napier A, Nett J, Nigmanov T, Nodulman L, Noh SY, Norniella O, Oakes L, Oh SH, Oh YD, Okusawa T, Orava R, Ortolan L, Pagliarone C, Palencia E, Palni P, Papadimitriou V, Parker W, Pauletta G, Paulini M, Paus C, Phillips TJ, Piacentino G, Pianori E, Pilot J, Pitts K, Plager C, Pondrom L, Poprocki S, Potamianos K, Pranko A, Prokoshin F, Ptohos F, Punzi G, Redondo Fernández I, Renton P, Rescigno M, Rimondi F, Ristori L, Robson A, Rodriguez T, Rolli S, Ronzani M, Roser R, Rosner JL, Ruffini F, Ruiz A, Russ J, Rusu V, Sakumoto WK, Sakurai Y, Santi L, Sato K, Saveliev V, Savoy-Navarro A, Schlabach P, Schmidt EE, Schwarz T, Scodellaro L, Scuri F, Seidel S, Seiya Y, Semenov A, Sforza F, Shalhout SZ, Shears T, Shepard PF, Shimojima M, Shochet M, Shreyber-Tecker I, Simonenko A, Sliwa K, Smith JR, Snider FD, Song H, Sorin V, St Denis R, Stancari M, Stentz D, Strologas J, Sudo Y, Sukhanov A, Suslov I, Takemasa K, Takeuchi Y, Tang J, Tecchio M, Teng PK, Thom J, Thomson E, Thukral V, Toback D, Tokar S, Tollefson K, Tomura T, Tonelli D, Torre S, Torretta D, Totaro P, Trovato M, Ukegawa F, Uozumi S, Vázquez F, Velev G, Vellidis C, Vernieri C, Vidal M, Vilar R, Vizán J, Vogel M, Volpi G, Wagner P, Wallny R, Wang SM, Waters D, Wester WC, et al.
Phys Rev Lett
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Combined Forward-Backward Asymmetry Measurements in Top-Antitop Quark Production at the Tevatron.
Authors: Authors: Aaltonen T, Abazov VM, Abbott B, Acharya BS, Adams M, Adams T, Agnew JP, Alexeev GD, Alkhazov G, Alton A, Amerio S, Amidei D, Anastassov A, Annovi A, Antos J, Apollinari G, Appel JA, Arisawa T, Artikov A, Asaadi J, Ashmanskas W, Askew A, Atkins S, Auerbach B, Augsten K, Aurisano A, Aushev V, Aushev Y, Avila C, Azfar F, Badaud F, Badgett W, Bae T, Bagby L, Baldin B, Bandurin DV, Banerjee S, Barbaro-Galtieri A, Barberis E, Baringer P, Barnes VE, Barnett BA, Barria P, Bartlett JF, Bartos P, Bassler U, Bauce M, Bazterra V, Bean A, Bedeschi F, Begalli M, Behari S, Bellantoni L, Bellettini G, Bellinger J, Benjamin D, Beretvas A, Beri SB, Bernardi G, Bernhard R, Bertram I, Besançon M, Beuselinck R, Bhat PC, Bhatia S, Bhatnagar V, Bhatti A, Bland KR, Blazey G, Blessing S, Bloom K, Blumenfeld B, Bocci A, Bodek A, Boehnlein A, Boline D, Boos EE, Borissov G, Bortoletto D, Borysova M, Boudreau J, Boveia A, Brandt A, Brandt O, Brigliadori L, Brochmann M, Brock R, Bromberg C, Bross A, Brown D, Brucken E, Bu XB, Budagov J, Budd HS, Buehler M, Buescher V, Bunichev V, Burdin S, Burkett K, Busetto G, Bussey P, Buszello CP, Butti P, Buzatu A, Calamba A, Camacho-Pérez E, Camarda S, Campanelli M, Canelli F, Carls B, Carlsmith D, Carosi R, Carrillo S, Casal B, Casarsa M, Casey BCK, Castilla-Valdez H, Castro A, Catastini P, Caughron S, Cauz D, Cavaliere V, Cerri A, Cerrito L, Chakrabarti S, Chan KM, Chandra A, Chapelain A, Chapon E, Chen G, Chen YC, Chertok M, Chiarelli G, Chlachidze G, Cho K, Cho SW, Choi S, Chokheli D, Choudhary B, Cihangir S, Claes D, Clark A, Clarke C, Clutter J, Convery ME, Conway J, Cooke M, Cooper WE, Corbo M, Corcoran M, Cordelli M, Couderc F, Cousinou MC, Cox CA, Cox DJ, Cremonesi M, Cruz D, Cuevas J, Culbertson R, Cuth J, Cutts D, Das A, d'Ascenzo N, Datta M, Davies G, de Barbaro P, de Jong SJ, De La Cruz-Burelo E, Déliot F, Demina R, Demortier L, Deninno M, Denisov D, Denisov SP, D'Errico M, Desai S, Deterre C, DeVaughan K, Devoto F, Di Canto A, Di Ruzza B, Diehl HT, Diesburg M, Ding PF, Dittmann JR, Dominguez A, Donati S, D'Onofrio M, Dorigo M, Driutti A, Drutskoy A, Dubey A, Dudko LV, Duperrin A, Dutt S, Eads M, Ebina K, Edgar R, Edmunds D, Elagin A, Ellison J, Elvira VD, Enari Y, Erbacher R, Errede S, Esham B, Evans H, Evdokimov A, Evdokimov VN, Farrington S, Fauré A, Feng L, Ferbel T, Fernández Ramos JP, Fiedler F, Field R, Filthaut F, Fisher W, Fisk HE, Flanagan G, Forrest R, Fortner M, Fox H, Franc J, Franklin M, Freeman JC, Frisch H, Fuess S, Funakoshi Y, Galloni C, Garbincius PH, Garcia-Bellido A, García-González JA, Garfinkel AF, Garosi P, Gavrilov V, Geng W, Gerber CE, Gerberich H, Gerchtein E, Gershtein Y, Giagu S, Giakoumopoulou V, Gibson K, Ginsburg CM, Ginther G, Giokaris N, Giromini P, Glagolev V, Glenzinski D, Gogota O, Gold M, Goldin D, Golossanov A, Golovanov G, Gomez G, Gomez-Ceballos G, Goncharov M, González López O, Gorelov I, Goshaw AT, Goulianos K, Gramellini E, Grannis PD, Greder S, Greenlee H, Grenier G, Gris P, Grivaz JF, Grohsjean A, Grosso-Pilcher C, Grünendahl S, Grünewald MW, Guillemin T, Guimaraes da Costa J, Gutierrez G, Gutierrez P, Hahn SR, Haley J, Han JY, Han L, Happacher F, Hara K, Harder K, Hare M, Harel A, Harr RF, Harrington-Taber T, Hatakeyama K, Hauptman JM, Hays C, Hays J, Head T, Hebbeker T, Hedin D, Hegab H, Heinrich J, Heinson AP, Heintz U, Hensel C, Heredia-De La Cruz I, Herndon M, Herner K, Hesketh G, Hildreth MD, Hirosky R, Hoang T, Hobbs JD, Hocker A, Hoeneisen B, Hogan J, Hohlfeld M, Holzbauer JL, Hong Z, Hopkins W, Hou S, Howley I, Hubacek Z, Hughes RE, Husemann U, Hussein M, Huston J, Hynek V, Iashvili I, Ilchenko Y, Illingworth R, Introzzi G, Iori M, Ito AS, Ivanov A, Jabeen S, Jaffré M, James E, Jang D, Jayasinghe A, Jayatilaka B, Jeon EJ, Jeong MS, Jesik R, Jiang P, Jindariani S, Johns K, Johnson E, Johnson M, Jonckheere A, Jones M, Jonsson P, Joo KK, Joshi J, Jun SY, Jung AW, Junk TR, Juste A, Kajfasz E, Kambeitz M, Kamon T, Karchin PE, Karmanov D, et al.
Phys Rev Lett
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Mitostasis in Neurons: Maintaining Mitochondria in an Extended Cellular Architecture.
Authors: Authors: Misgeld T, Schwarz TL.
Neuron
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The Mammalian-Specific Protein Armcx1 Regulates Mitochondrial Transport during Axon Regeneration.
Authors: Authors: Cartoni R, Norsworthy MW, Bei F, Wang C, Li S, Zhang Y, Gabel CV, Schwarz TL, He Z.
Neuron
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Ccdc181 is a microtubule-binding protein that interacts with Hook1 in haploid male germ cells and localizes to the sperm tail and motile cilia.
Authors: Authors: Schwarz T, Prieler B, Schmid JA, Grzmil P, Neesen J.
Eur J Cell Biol
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O-GlcNAc Transferase Is Essential for Sensory Neuron Survival and Maintenance.
Authors: Authors: Su C, Schwarz TL.
J Neurosci
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Neurotoxic mechanisms of paclitaxel are local to the distal axon and independent of transport defects.
Authors: Authors: Gornstein EL, Schwarz TL.
Exp Neurol
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A high mitochondrial transport rate characterizes CNS neurons with high axonal regeneration capacity.
Authors: Authors: Cartoni R, Pekkurnaz G, Wang C, Schwarz TL, He Z.
PLoS One
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