Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
- MD, Russian State Medical University, Moscow 1993
- PhD in Molecular Biology with S.Lukyanov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 1996
- Postdoctoral fellow with P.Gruss at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 1996 - 2001
- since 2002 Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Dept. Molecular Biology of Neuronal Signals

Major Research Interests
During development, several populations of progenitor cells in the dorsal telencephalon generate a large variety of neurons. These neurons acquire distinct morphologies and physiological properties and serve distinct functions in the mammalian cerebral cortex.

We are interested in the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cell fate specification in the mouse cerebral cortex. We focus on the mechanisms controlling the generation of neurons of different cortical layers. We apply a combination of genetic, molecular and cell biological approaches. We have identified several genes that control cortical development. One of them, Sip1 is a transcription factor implicated in Mowat-Wilson syndrome (MWS) in humans. MWS patients suffer from intellectual disability, microcephaly and seizures. Another gene we identified, Satb2 is a transcription factor of a novel type that interacts with special chromosomal regulatory elements, Matrix Attachment Regions. Satb2 is an important determinant of neurons of superficial cortical layers. There are several other genes that have been identified in the lab whose function in the cortical development remains to be revealed.

Homepage Department/Research Group:
http://www.em.mpg.de/site/index.php?id=85&tx_jppageteaser_pi1[backId]=16

Selected Recent Publications
- Seuntjens E, Nityanandam A, Miqualajauregui A, Debruyn J, Stryjewska A, Goebbels S, Nave K, Huylebroeck D., Tarabykin V (2009) Sip1 regulates sequential fate decisions by feedback signaling from postmitotic neurons to progenitors. Nature Neuroscience 12(11):1373-80

- Britanova O, de Juan Romero C, Cheung A, Kwan KY, Schwark M, Gyorgy A, Vogel T, Akopov S, Mitkovski M, Agoston D, Sestan N, Molnár Z, Tarabykin V (2008). Satb2 is a postmitotic determinant of upper layer neurons specification in the neocortex. Neuron 57(3):378-92

- Miquelajauregui A, Van de Putte T, Polyakov A, Nityanandam A, Boppana S, Karabinos A, Higasi Y, Seuntjens E, Huylebroeck D, Tarabykin V (2007). Smad-interacting protein-1 (Sip1/Zfhx1b) acts upstream of Wnt signaling in the mouse hippocampus and controls its formation. PNAS 104 (31) 12919-12924

- Britanova O, Depew MJ, Schwark M, Thomas BL, Miletich I, Sharpe P, Tarabykin V (2006). Satb2 haploinsufficiency phenocopies 2q32-q33 deletions while loss suggests a fundamental role in the coordination of jaw development. Am J Hum Genet 79(4) 668-78

- Britanova O, Alifragis P, Johnes K, Gruss P, Tarabykin V (2006). Tangential migration of cortical projection neurons: a novel mode of migration. Dev Biol. 298(1) 299-311

- Britanova O, Akopov S, Lukyanov S, Gruss P, Tarabykin V (2005). Novel transcription factor Satb2 interacts with matrix attachment region DNA elements in a tissue-specific manner and demonstrates cell-type-dependent expression in the developing mouse CNS. Eur J Neurosci 21, 658-68 (Cover)

- Tarabykin V, Stoykova A, Usman N, Gruss P (2001). Cortical upper layer neurons derive from the subventricular zone as indicated by Svet1 gene expression. Development 128: 1983-1993