Hippocampus

This central brain region is implicated a diversity of brain disorders, but its function is not understood.

We started by looking at genes expressed selectively in the hippocampus, and found an unusual constellation of receptors and signaling molecules, prompting the speculation that part of the function of the hippocampus is in sensing internal hormones and metabolites.

Steel, M., Moss, J., Clark, K.A., Kearns, I.R., Davies, C., Morris, R.G.M., Skarnes, W.C. and Lathe, R. (1998) Gene-trapping to identify and analyze genes expressed in the mouse hippocampus. Hippocampus 8, 444–457

Davies, B.J., Pickard, B.S., Steel, M. and Morris, R.G.M. and Lathe, R. (1998) Serine proteases in rodent hippocampus. J. Biol. Chem. 273, 23004–23011

Rose, K., Allan, A., Gauldie, S., Stapleton, G., Dobbie, L., Dott, K., Martin, C., Wang, L., Hedlund, E., Seckl, J.R., Gustafsson, J.A. and Lathe, R. (2001) Neurosteroid hydroxylase CYP7B: vivid reporter activity in dentate gyrus of gene-targeted mice and abolition of a widespread pathway of steroid and oxysterol hydroxylation. J. Biol. Chem. 276, 23937–23944

Lathe, R. (2001) Hormones and the hippocampus. J. Endocrinol. 169, 205–231

Lathe, R. (2017) The chemosensory brain requires a distributed cellular mechanism to harness information and resolve conflicts – is consciousness the forum? Commentary on Morsella et al. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, in press