Gabriel Corfas is interested in understanding the molecular signals that regulate neuron-glia interactions, which play critical roles in several aspects of nervous-system development, including neuronal migration, neuronal and glial differentiation and survival, and the formation and function of synapses. To this end, his research employs molecular and cellular biological techniques, as well as genetically modified mice.

One aspect of Corfas' work focuses on the growth factor neuregulin (NRG) and its erbB receptors, key mediators of neuron-glia interactions. He and his colleagues have found that these molecules mediate interactions between migrating neurons and the radial glial fibers along which they migrate during the development of the central nervous system, and between several types of glia and neurons in the adult nervous system.

• Signal transduction mechanisms by which erbB receptor activation leads to glial differentiation and function.


• Mechanisms that regulate the formation and function of radial glia.


• Extracellular signaling molecules that regulate neuronal migration.


• Roles of NRG and erbB receptors in neuron-glia interactions in the adult nervous system.


• Roles of neuron-glia interactions in the development and maintenance of the inner ear.