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Associate Professor;
Ph.D., University of Florida, 1993

Research and Professional Interests:

We are researching learning, memory, and neural plasticity at the level of the ion channel protein. Our main stay in the laboratory is biophysics, specifically a technique called patch-clamp electrophysiology, where we can measure single conformational changes in ion channel proteins that elicit electrical signals, essentially the language of the brain. One of the most ubiquitous ways of modulating electrical activity of ion channels is a biochemical process called phosphorylation, whereby negative phosphate groups are added to the channel at specific residues. Hence we combine our skills in electrophysiology with those of protein biochemistry (phosphorylation assays; protein-protein interactions), molecular biology (creating mutant ion channels and signaling proteins), and molecular genetics (genetically targeted "knock-out" mice to study cell signaling as guided by loss of function). We were very much excited that the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was attributed to several scientists that discovered the importance of phosphorylation. Perhaps the importance of phosphorylation in regulating cellular activity can be underscored by the large portion (2-3%) of the eukaryotic genome set aside to code for kinases, enzymes that initiate phosphorylation. Humans have 2000 conventional kinase genes and most of those exist in the brain. Abnormality in these genes and correlate enzyme activity could contribute to the onset or severity of specific neuronal diseases such as Alzheimer's functional, inflammatory responses, deregulated cell proliferation, and to diseases such as cancer (especially mammary), atherosclerosis, psoriasis, and diabetes. Most recently we have discovered that hormones and neurotrophins (insulin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)) modulate electrical activity in the brain at the level of the ion channel. Thus we are studying the neuropathology of diabetes and nerve damage through disease or injury. Since perfusion of BDNF induces new nerve cell growth, it may have this capacity by acting at the level of the ion channel.

Selected Publications:

Biju, K.C., Marks, D.R., T.G. Mast, and D.A. Fadool. 2008. Deletion of voltage-gated channel affects glomerular refinement and odor receptor expression in the olfactory system.J. Comp. Neurol. 506: 161-179.
PDF (soon) ABSTRACT

Marks, D.R. and D.A. Fadool. 2007. Post-synaptic density 95 (PSD-95) affects insulin-induced Kv1.3 channel modulation of the olfactory bulb. J. Neurochem. 103(4): 1608-1627.
PDF (soon) ABSTRACT

Colley, B.S., K.C. Biju, A. Visegrady, S. Campbell, and D.A. Fadool. 2007. TrkB increases Kv1.3 ion channel half-life and surface expression. Neuroscience 144(2):531-46.
PDF ABSTRACT

Brann, J.H. and D.A. Fadool. 2006. Vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs) from Sternotherus odoratus (Stinkpot/Musk Turtle) respond to chemosignals via the phospholipase C (PLC) system. J. Exp. Biol. 209: 914-927
PDF ABSTRACT

Das, P., A.D. Parsons, J. Scarborough, J. Hoffman, J. Wilson, R.N. Thompson, J.M. Overton, and D.A. Fadool. 2005. Electrophysiological and behavioral phenotype of insulin receptor defective mice. Physiol. & Behav. 86(3):287-296.
PDF ABSTRACT

Cook, K. K., and D. A. Fadool. 2002. Two adaptor proteins differentially modulate the phosphorylation and biophysics of Kv1.3 ion channel by Src kinase. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 13268-13280.
PDF ABSTRACT

Brann, J.H., J.C. Dennis, E.E. Morrison, and D.A. Fadool. 2002. Type-specific inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor localization in the vomeronasal organ and its interaction with a transient receptor potential channel, TRPC2. J. Neurochem. 83: 1-9.
PDF ABSTRACT

Tucker, K. and D.A. Fadool. 2002. Neurotrophin modulation of voltage-gated potassium channels in rat through TrkB receptors is time and sensory-experience dependent. J. Physiol. 542.2: 413-429.
PDF ABSTRACT

Fadool, D.A., K. Tucker, R. Perkins, G. Fasciani, R.N. Thompson, A.D. Parsons, J.M. Overton, P.A. Koni, R.A. Flavell, and L.K. Kaczmarek. 2004. Kv1.3 channel gene-targeted deletion produces "super-smeller mice" with altered glomeruli, interating scaffolding proteins, and biophysics. Neuron. 41: 1-20.
PDF

Das, P., A.D. Parsons, J. Scarborough, J. Hoffman, J. Wilson, R.N. Thompson, J.M. Overton, and D.A. Fadool. 2005. Electrophysiological and behavioral phenotype of insulin receptor defective mice. Physiol. & Behav. xx:xxx-xxx.
PDF

Labra, A., J.H. Brann, and D.A. Fadool. 2005. Heterogeneity of voltage- and chemosignal-activated response profiles in vomeronasal sensory neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 94(4):2535-2548.
PDF

Postdoctoral Associates:

Cavallin, Melissa A.

Graduate Students:

Marks, David R
Mast, Thomas G
Tucker, Kristal

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