Wesley Grueber, PhD

Wesley Grueber, PhD

Research Interest

Synapses and Circuits
Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Neuroscience
Cell Specification and Differentiation
Axon Pathfinding and Synaptogenesis

Dendrites and axons show extraordinarily diverse forms and modes of patterning, with important implications for nervous system wiring and neuronal function. Our lab is interested in how neurons acquire their type-specific morphology and organization and how this organization underlies circuit function. To approach this problem, we use molecular, genetic, anatomical, and behavioral approaches to identify the mechanisms that sculpt somatosensory circuits during development.

Using the fruit fly Drosophila we can dissect the mechanisms of nervous system patterning and function with cell type specificity.  For example we have recently identified the mechanisms that allow branches from the same cell to spread from each other to cover their appropriate territory, a basic feature of most or all neuronal arbors.  This process of “self-avoidance” is controlled by the highly diversified homophilic immunoglobulin superfamily member Dscam1, which, via alternative splicing into thousands of different isoforms, endows individual neurons with unique surface identities that allow for self-recognition and repulsion.  We recently showed that repulsion is also enforced by integrin receptors for the extracellular matrix.

Current interests in the lab include 1) identification of interneuron populations that transmit somatosensory information and the contribution of these neurons to behavior, 2)  the mechanisms that underlie specific connectivity between primary sensory neurons and target interneurons, 3) mechanisms of dendro-dendritic repulsion that mediate territory formation, and 4) understanding the molecular basis for morphological and functional decline of neurons and circuits during aging.

  • Columbia University CIMER Entering Mentoring Training
  • Crawford Bias Reduction Theory and Training
  • NRMN Unconscious bias course
  • Optimizing the Practice of Mentoring
  • NINDS T32/R25 PI Mentoring Workshop
  • CIMER Culturally Aware Mentoring
  • Mental Health First Aid
  • Bystander Intervention Training, January 2024 (Columbia Sexual Violence Response Office)
  • BS, 1993 Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
  • PhD, 2000 Zoology, University of Washington
  • Postdoc, University of California, San Francisco
  • Intro to Neural Development
  • Experimental Approaches in the Neural Sciences
  • Survey of Neuroscience
  • Grace Shin, Associate Research Scientist
  • Raphael Cohn, Postdoc
  • Abby Wood, Graduate Student
  • Nova Qi, Graduate Student
  • Madison Smith, Research Assistant
  • Amena Khair-Eldin, Undergraduate
  • Karlton Gaskin, Undergraduate
  • *Vaadia, R., *Li, W., Voleti, V., Singhania, A., #Hillman E.M.C., and #Grueber, W.B. (2019) Characterization of proprioceptive system dynamics in behaving Drosophila larvae using high-speed volumetric microscopy. Curr Biol29:935-944.
  • Burgos A., Honjo K., Ohyama T., Qian C.S., Shin G.J., Gohl D.M., Silies M., Tracey W.D., Zlatic M., Cardona A., Grueber W.B. (2018) Nociceptive interneurons control modular motor pathways to promote escape behavior in Drosophila. eLife 2018;7:e26016 doi: 10.7554/eLife.26016.
  • Corty M.M., Tam J., and Grueber W.B. (2016). Dendritic diversification through transcription factor mediated suppression of alternative morphologies. Development 143:1351-1362.
  • Bouchard M.B., Voleti V., Mendes C.S., Grueber W.B., Mann R.S., Bruno R.M., Hillman E.M.C (2015) Swept confocally-aligned planar excitation (SCAPE) microscopy for high-speed volumetric imaging of behaving organisms.Nature Photonics 9:113-119.
  • Zipursky, S.L., Grueber W.B. (2013) The molecular basis of self-avoidance. Ann Rev Neurosci. 26:547-568.
  • Kim M.E., Shrestha B.R., Blazeski R., Mason C.A., Grueber W.B. (2012) Integrins establish dendrite-substrate relationships that promote dendritic self-avoidance and patterning in Drosophila sensory neurons. Neuron 73:79-91.
  • Matthews B.J., Grueber W.B. (2011) Dscam1-mediated self-avoidance counters netrin-dependent targeting of dendrites in Drosophila. Curr Biol 21:1480-1487.
  • Hattori D., Chen Y., Matthews B.J., Salwinski L., Sabatti C., Grueber W.B., Zipursky S.L. (2009) Robust discrimination between self and non-self neurites requires thousands of Dscam1 isoforms. Nature 461:644-648.
  • Zlatic M., Li F., Strigini M., Grueber W., Bate M. (2009). Positional Cues in the Drosophila Nerve Cord: Semaphorins Pattern the Dorso-Ventral Axis. PLoS Biol 7(6): e1000135.
  • Corty M.M., Matthews B.J., Grueber W.B. (2009). Molecules and mechanisms of dendrite development in Drosophila.Development 136:1049-1061.
  • Matthews B.J., Kim M.E., Flanagan J.J., Hattori D., Clemens J.C., Zipursky S.L., Grueber W.B. (2007). Dendrite self-avoidance is controlled by Dscam. Cell 129:593-604.

For a complete list of publications, please visit PubMed.gov

  • Axon Pathfinding and Synaptogenesis 
  • Synapses and Circuits 
  • Neural Degeneration and Repair 
  • Cell Specification and Differentiation