John Bicknell
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John Bicknell is currently Institute Assistant Director for Research Management matters.

Developmental migration of neuroendocrine cells

John Bicknell is a developmental neuroendocrinologist and his group is using transgenic mouse models to identify the molecular signals controlling migration of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons from the embryonic nose to the brain. GnRH neurons control reproductive hormone output and originate in the olfactory system of the embryo before migrating along olfactory axon projections into the brain; a developmental mechanism that is conserved in evolution, including humans.

A line of mice generated at Babraham shows greatly impaired GnRH neuron migration and consequent fertility, mirroring aspects of Kallmann’s syndrome in humans. This is a rare X-linked recessive disease characterised by reduced or complete absence of the sense of smell (anosmia), and hypogonadism. In these mice, up to 95 percent of GnRH neurons fail to migrate in the embryo and remain trapped within the nose as multi-cell aggregates affording us a unique opportunity to define one or more molecules critical for this, and perhaps other, systems of developmental neuronal migration.

Attention is currently focussed on expression of signalling molecules related to olfactory development, such as ephrins and their receptors.