Our nervous system is wired with extraordinary precision during development, but after injury, it often fails to repair itself. One major reason is that the molecular signals guiding axon growth in embryos become misregulated in adults. With an ISCRM fellowship, Lei Gao will focus on uncovering how a key guidance receptor, EphA4, is regulated during neural development and exploring its potential application in promoting neural regeneration. Specifically, she will investigate how the MOSMO/MEGF8/MGRN1 (MMM) complex, a group of proteins involved in protein degradation, selectively targets EphA4 and related molecules for regulation. Understanding this process could open the door to modulating EphA4 signaling, not only to guide neural network formation during development, but also to support axon regrowth after injury. Ultimately, this work aims to bridge developmental neurobiology with regenerative medicine by identifying new molecular targets that activate the nervous system’s repair.