Hyde Lab: Jacob E. Montgomery

Graduate Student

2001	Bemidji State University Bemidji, Minnesota	B.S. Biology & B.S. Psychology
Present	University of Notre Dame, Center for Zebrafish Research	Doctoral Student
	Project:
	under David R. Hyde

Prolonged exposure to constant, high intensity light leads to apoptosis of the photoreceptors in the outer nuclear layer of the zebrafish retina. The retina has the ability to regenerate these lost photoreceptors through a response in which inner nuclear layer cells proliferate, migrate to the outer nuclear layer, and differentiate into rod and cone photoreceptors. Recent studies indicate that the Müller glia, the only non-neuronal cell type found in the retina, may be the inner nuclear layer source of the regenerated photoreceptors. I am using transgenic and molecular techniques to further investigate the roles of the Müller glia in the retinal regeneration response. We propose that these roles include providing a migrational scaffold for proliferating neuronal precursor cells, intercellular signaling, and neuronal cell production.

Figure 1. Müller glial proliferation in response to constant light. After 36 hours of constant light treatment of albino tg(GFAP:EGFP)^nt zebrafish, a large proliferative response is observed (through PCNA co-labeling) in EGFP-expressing Müller glia (arrows).

Refereed Manuscripts

Kassen, S.C., Ramanan, V., Montgomery, J.E., Burket, C.T., Liu, C.G., Vihtelic, T.S., and Hyde, D.R. (2007). Time course analysis of gene expression during light-induced photoreceptor cell death and regeneration in albino zebrafish. Dev Neurobiol. 2007 Jul;67(8):1009-31.

Thummel, R., Kassen, S.C., Montgomery, J.E., Enright, J.M., Hyde, D.R. (2008) Inhibition of Müller glial cell division blocks regenration of the light-damaged zebrafish retina. Dev Neurobiol. 2008 Feb 15;68(3):392-408.

Burket, C.T., Montgomery, J.E., Thummel, R., Kassen, S.C., LaFave, M.C., Langenau, D.M., Zon, L.I., Hyde, D.R. (2008). Generation and characterization of transgenic zebrafish lines using different ubiquitous promoters. Transgenic Res. 2008 Apr:17(2):265-79.

Thummel R., Kassen S.C., Enright, J.M., Nelson, C.M., Montgomery, J. E., and Hyde, D.R. (2008). Characterization of Muller glia and neuronal progenitors in zebrafish adult retinal regeneration. Exp. Eye Res. 87: 433-444.

Montgomery, J.E., Parsons, M.J., and Hyde, D.R. (2010). A novel model of retinal ablation demonstrates that the origin of regenerated rod photoreceptors is dependent on the extent of damage. J. Comp. Neurol. 518: 800-814.