My Research

My research focused on how developing nervous systems form, communicate, and adapt, with particular emphasis on neural development, motor circuits, and cellular mechanisms of disease.

Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor is an axonal chemoattractant and a neurotrophic factor for spinal motor neurons. Ebens A, Brose K, Leonardo ED, Hanson MG Jr, Bladt F, Birchmeier C, Barres BA, Tessier-Lavigne M. Neuron. 1996 Dec;17(6):1157-72. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80247-0.

Cyclic AMP elevation is sufficient to promote the survival of spinal motor neurons in vitro. Hanson MG Jr, Shen S, Wiemelt AP, McMorris FA, Barres BA. J Neurosci. 1998 Sep 15;18(18):7361-71. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.18-18-07361.1998. PMCID: PMC6793263

Depolarization and cAMP elevation rapidly recruit TrkB to the plasma membrane of CNS neurons. Meyer-Franke A, Wilkinson GA, Kruttgen A, Hu M, Munro E, Hanson MG Jr, Reichardt LF, Barres BA. Neuron. Author manuscript. 1998 Oct;21(4):681-93. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(00)80586-3. PMCID: PMC2693071

Characterization of the circuits that generate spontaneous episodes of activity in the early embryonic mouse spinal cord. Hanson MG, Landmesser LT. J Neurosci. 2003 Jan 15;23(2):587-600. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-02-00587.2003. PMCID: PMC6741864

THE EMBRYONIC NEURAL CIRCUIT: MECHANISM AND INFLUENCE OF SPONTANEOUS RHYTHMIC ACTIVITY IN EARLY SPINAL CORD DEVELOPMENT, Martin Gartz Hanson, 2004

Normal patterns of spontaneous activity are required for correct motor axon guidance and the expression of specific guidance molecules. Hanson MG, Landmesser LT. Neuron. 2004 Sep 2;43(5):687-701. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.08.018.

Cholinergic input is required during embryonic development to mediate proper assembly of spinal locomotor circuits. Myers CP, Lewcock JW, Hanson MG, Gosgnach S, Aimone JB, Gage FH, Lee KF, Landmesser LT, Pfaff SL. Neuron. 2005 Apr 7;46(1):37-49. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.02.022. PMID: 15820692.

Fast noninvasive activation and inhibition of neural and network activity by vertebrate rhodopsin and green algae channelrhodopsin. Li X, Gutierrez DV, Hanson MG, Han J, Mark MD, Chiel H, Hegemann P, Landmesser LT, Herlitze S. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Nov 23;102(49):17816-21. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0509030102. PMCID: PMC1292990

Increasing the frequency of spontaneous rhythmic activity disrupts pool-specific axon fasciculation and pathfinding of embryonic spinal motoneurons. Hanson MG, Landmesser LT. J Neurosci. 2006 Dec 6;26(49):12769-80. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4170-06.2006. PMCID: PMC6674837

Spontaneous rhythmic activity in early chick spinal cord influences distinct motor axon pathfinding decisions. Hanson MG, Milner LD, Landmesser LT. Brain Res Rev. Author manuscript. 2007 Aug 1;57(1):77-85. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.06.021. PMCID: PMC2233604

Peripheral nervous system defects in a mouse model for peroxisomal biogenesis disorders. Hanson MG, Fregoso VL, Vrana JD, Tucker CL, Niswander LA. Dev Biol. Author manuscript. 2014 Aug 28;395(1):84-95. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2014.08.026. PMCID: PMC4190158

Potassium dependent rescue of a myopathy with core-like structures in mouse. Hanson MG, Wilde JJ, Moreno RL, Minic AD, Niswander L. Elife. 2015 Jan 7;4:e02923. doi: 10.7554/eLife.02923. PMCID: PMC4309926

Rectification of muscle and nerve deficits in paralyzed ryanodine receptor type 1 mutant embryos. Gartz Hanson M, Niswander LA. Dev Biol. Author manuscript. 2015 May 27;404(2):76-87. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.05.018. PMCID: PMC4515167

An explant muscle model to examine the refinement of the synaptic landscape. Hanson MG, Niswander LA. J Neurosci Methods. Author manuscript. 2014 Sep 22;238:95-104. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2014.09.013. PMCID: PMC4252626

Novel α-tubulin mutation disrupts neural development and tubulin proteostasis. Gartz Hanson M, Aiken J, Sietsema DV, Sept D, Bates EA, Niswander L, Moore JK. Dev Biol. Author manuscript. 2015 Nov 30;409(2):406-19. doi: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2015.11.022. PMCID: PMC4724489