The candidate is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with experience in molecular biology and neuroscience. He holds a tenure track junior faculty appointment with 80 percent research time at the University of Michigan Medical Center. This career development award will serve to expand his skills to include the development of genetic animal models and their behavioral phenotyping. The skill base interdigitates with a commitment by the University of Michigan Mental Health Research Institute (MHRI) to apply novel molecular approaches to identify new candidate genes for major depression and undertake their anatomic, structural, and functional characterizations. It is expected that by the end of this grant, the candidate will have gained sufficient experience and generated several informative animal models for independent research and collaboration. The University of Michigan Medical Center is a thriving research community with ample resources for carrying out the proposed studies. A highly successful core facility is available for transgenic manipulation. Faculty in the MHRI bear expertise in the areas of genetic engineering, biochemistry, rodent anatomy, and animal behavior. The candidate is being supervised by a senior research scientist in the MHRI with consultative support from leaders in the field of mouse transgenics and behavior phenotyping. This project applies emerging molecular technology to expand understanding on the role of serotonin biosynthesis and neurotransmitter levels on nervous system development and behavior. The design employs neuron specific and tetracycline-inducible genetic elements to engineer transgenic mice permitting regulation of tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) activity. TPH is the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin biosynthesis, and is thereby critical to serotonin turnover. The recombinant animals will permit probing the effects of temporal and tissue-selective up- or down-regulation of brain serotonin on measures of anxiety, attention, learning, memory, aggression, appetite, drug preference, and other behaviors. The proposed research is central to the serotonin hypothesis of mood and anxiety disorders, and offers a model for studying the developmental effects of serotonin turnover on brain maturation. The candidate's long-term career plan is academic research integrating human clinical, genetic and animal model information for major mood disorders ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
5K01MH063992-02
Application #
6684080
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-IFCN-2 (01))
Program Officer
Wynne, Debra K
Project Start
2002-12-01
Project End
2007-11-30
Budget Start
2003-12-01
Budget End
2004-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$178,556
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
073133571
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109
Patel, Paresh D; Katz, Maor; Karssen, Adriaan M et al. (2008) Stress-induced changes in corticosteroid receptor expression in primate hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Psychoneuroendocrinology 33:360-7
Patel, Paresh D; Bochar, Daniel A; Turner, David L et al. (2007) Regulation of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene expression by a bipartite RE-1 silencer of transcription/neuron restrictive silencing factor (REST/NRSF) binding motif. J Biol Chem 282:26717-24
Chung, Kwan-Ho; Hart, Christopher C; Al-Bassam, Sarmad et al. (2006) Polycistronic RNA polymerase II expression vectors for RNA interference based on BIC/miR-155. Nucleic Acids Res 34:e53
Patel, Paresh D; Seasholtz, Audrey F; Patel, Paritosh D (2006) Computer-assisted scoring of the elevated plus maze. Biotechniques 41:700, 702, 704
Patel, Paresh D; Pontrello, Crystal; Burke, Sharon (2004) Robust and tissue-specific expression of TPH2 versus TPH1 in rat raphe and pineal gland. Biol Psychiatry 55:428-33