Victor V. Chizhikov, PhD

Education

• PhD Institution: NN Blokhin Cancer Research Center, Moscow, Russia
• Postdoctoral: University of Chicago, Department of Human Genetics, Chicago, IL

Research Interests

Our laboratory has two goals: (1) to identify the molecular mechanisms that regulate the development of the mammalian brain and (2) to define the pathogenic mechanisms that underlie human developmental brain disorders. Specifically, we focus on two dorsal brain regions - the developing cerebellum and the cerebral cortex. The cerebellum is a major center of motor-coordination and is also involved in certain cognitive functions. The cerebral cortex is responsible for higher brain functions such as learning, memory and perception. Developmental abnormalities of the cerebellum and cerebral cortex are relatively frequent in human patients and are associated with autism, intellectual disability and hydrocephalus. In our laboratory we use the following approaches and techniques: analysis of knockout and transgenic mice, genetic fate mapping, in utero electroporation, explants, laser capture microdissection, in situ hybridization RNA-seq, and immunohistochemistry.

Representative Publications

• Iskusnykh IY, Fattakhov N, Li Y, Bihannic L, Kirchner MK, Steshina EY, Northcott PA, Chizhikov VV. (2023) Lmx1a is a master regulator of the cortical hem. 
  Elife. 12:e84095. doi: 10.7554/eLife.84095.
• Iskusnykh IY, Chizhikov VV. (2022) Cerebellar development after preterm birth. Front Cell Dev Biol. 10:1068288. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1068288.
• Smith KS, Bihannic L, Gudenas BL, Haldipur P, Tao R, Gao Q, Li Y, Aldinger KA, Iskusnykh IY, Chizhikov VV, Scoggins M, Zhang S, Edwards A, Deng M, Glass IA, Overman LM, Millman J, Sjoboen AH, Hadley J, Golser J, Mankad K, Sheppard H, Onar-Thomas A, Gajjar A, Robinson GW, Hovestadt V, Orr BA, Patay Z, Millen KJ, Northcott PA. (2022) Unified rhombic lip origins of group 3 and group 4 medulloblastoma. Nature. 609:1012-1020. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05208-9.
• Iskusnykh IY, Fattakhov N, Buddington RK, Chizhikov VV. (2021) Intrauterine growth restriction compromises cerebellar development by affecting radial migration of granule cells via the JamC/Pard3a molecular pathway. Exp Neurol. 336:113537. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2020.113537.
• Chizhikov VV, Iskusnykh IY, Steshina EY, Fattakhov N, Lindgren AG, Shetty AS, Roy A, Tole S, Millen KJ. (2019) Early dorsomedial tissue interactions regulate gyrification of distal neocortex. Nature Commun. 10:5192. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-12913-z.
• Iskusnykh IY, Steshina EY, Chizhikov VV. (2016) Loss of Ptf1a Leads to a Widespread Cell-Fate Misspecification in the Brainstem, Affecting the Development of Somatosensory and Viscerosensory Nuclei. 
  J Neurosci. 36:2691-710. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2526-15.2016.
• Millen KJ, Steshina EY, Iskusnykh IY, Chizhikov VV. (2014) Transformation of the cerebellum into more ventral brainstem fates causes cerebellar agenesis in the absence of Ptf1a function. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 111:E1777-86. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1315024111.

View more references (pubmed link)