Thomas Schwarz

Thomas Schwarz, Ph.D.

Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology in the Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital

The Cell Biology of Neurons

Many fascinating unanswered questions lie at the interface of fundamental cell biology and neuroscience. For example, how do motors control the distribution of organelles? How are organelles supplied and cleared when far from the nucleus? The neuron, because of its extraordinarily complex structure offers special challenges to general cell biological processes.  Solving neurodegenerative disorders may depend on understanding how the neuron meets these challenges.

The Schwarz lab is focused on the cell biology of the neuron and seeks to understand how nerve cells work and keep their distant parts well-supplied and healthy. 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 mechanisms that preserve the quality of axonal components. 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 human cell lines as the scientific question demands. We approach each question through a combination of genetics, biochemistry, electrophysiology, cell biology, pharmacology, and imaging.

Publications View
Identification and characterization of Drosophila genes for synaptic vesicle proteins.
Authors: Authors: DiAntonio A, Burgess RW, Chin AC, Deitcher DL, Scheller RH, Schwarz TL.
J Neurosci
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Differential expression of transcripts from syb, a Drosophila melanogaster gene encoding VAMP (synaptobrevin) that is abundant in non-neuronal cells.
Authors: Authors: Chin AC, Burgess RW, Wong BR, Schwarz TL, Scheller RH.
Gene
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Synaptic transmission persists in synaptotagmin mutants of Drosophila.
Authors: Authors: DiAntonio A, Parfitt KD, Schwarz TL.
Cell
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Functional expression of a rapidly inactivating neuronal calcium channel.
Authors: Authors: Ellinor PT, Zhang JF, Randall AD, Zhou M, Schwarz TL, Tsien RW, Horne WA.
Nature
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Molecular diversity of Ca2+ channel alpha 1 subunits from the marine ray Discopyge ommata.
Authors: Authors: Horne WA, Ellinor PT, Inman I, Zhou M, Tsien RW, Schwarz TL.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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Alteration of ionic selectivity of a K+ channel by mutation of the H5 region.
Authors: Authors: Yool AJ, Schwarz TL.
Nature
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Immunological characterization of K+ channel components from the Shaker locus and differential distribution of splicing variants in Drosophila.
Authors: Authors: Schwarz TL, Papazian DM, Carretto RC, Jan YN, Jan LY.
Neuron
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A Dictyostelium mutant with severe defects in alpha-actinin: its characterization using cDNA probes and monoclonal antibodies.
Authors: Authors: Schleicher M, Noegel A, Schwarz T, Wallraff E, Brink M, Faix J, Gerisch G, Isenberg G.
J Cell Sci
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Expression of functional potassium channels from Shaker cDNA in Xenopus oocytes.
Authors: Authors: Timpe LC, Schwarz TL, Tempel BL, Papazian DM, Jan YN, Jan LY.
Nature
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Multiple potassium-channel components are produced by alternative splicing at the Shaker locus in Drosophila.
Authors: Authors: Schwarz TL, Tempel BL, Papazian DM, Jan YN, Jan LY.
Nature
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