The long-term goal of the Morehouse School of Medicine Neuroscience Institute is to create a challenging environment in which to study the functional organization of the nervous system and to address health-related questions with the aim of reducing the health disparities that currently exists in select populations. The present application requests funds to support three young investigators and one previously funded investigator. (a) Dr. Chiaki Fukuhara proposes to identify the signaling cascades that respond to norepinephrine stimulation that underlie circadian rhythm in pineal cells. (b) Dr. Byron Ford is investigating the possible role that neuregulin plays in protecting neurons during ischemia brain injury. (c) Dr. Ernest Steele proposes to characterize the alphal subunit isoforms of the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel in primate retina. (d) Dr. Joseph Whittaker proposes to characterize the electrical response and calcium dynamics in dopamine cells of the substantia nigra in response to muscarinic receptor stimulation. Several health-related areas of investigation will be addressed by these studies. They include stroke and ischemic brain injury; Parkinson's disease; circadian rhythm disturbances; and visual disorders arising from retinal channelopathies. It is anticipated that the current applicants will apply, and receive, funding at the R01 level during the next funding cycle and set the stage for developing an application for program-project type grants.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Specialized Center--Cooperative Agreements (U54)
Project #
5U54NS034194-13
Application #
7120031
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZNS1-SRB-R (02))
Program Officer
Jones, Michelle
Project Start
1994-09-30
Project End
2008-05-31
Budget Start
2006-09-01
Budget End
2008-05-31
Support Year
13
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$1,949,267
Indirect Cost
Name
Morehouse School of Medicine
Department
Anatomy/Cell Biology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
102005451
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30310
Pulliam, John V K; Xu, Zhenfeng; Ford, Gregory D et al. (2013) Computational identification of conserved transcription factor binding sites upstream of genes induced in rat brain by transient focal ischemic stroke. Brain Res 1495:76-85
Li, Yonggang; Lein, Pamela J; Liu, Cuimei et al. (2012) Neuregulin-1 is neuroprotective in a rat model of organophosphate-induced delayed neuronal injury. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 262:194-204
Rodriguez-Mercado, Rafael; Ford, Gregory D; Xu, Zhenfeng et al. (2012) Acute neuronal injury and blood genomic profiles in a nonhuman primate model for ischemic stroke. Comp Med 62:427-38
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Guo, Qingmin; Wang, Guangming; Namura, Shobu (2010) Fenofibrate improves cerebral blood flow after middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 30:70-8
Davidson, Alec J; Castanon-Cervantes, Oscar; Leise, Tanya L et al. (2009) Visualizing jet lag in the mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus and peripheral circadian timing system. Eur J Neurosci 29:171-80
Wang, Guangming; Guo, Qingmin; Hossain, Mohammed et al. (2009) Bone marrow-derived cells are the major source of MMP-9 contributing to blood-brain barrier dysfunction and infarct formation after ischemic stroke in mice. Brain Res 1294:183-92
Paul, Ketema N; Laposky, Aaron D; Turek, Fred W (2009) Reproductive hormone replacement alters sleep in mice. Neurosci Lett 463:239-43
Guo, Qingmin; Wang, Guangming; Liu, Xiaowei et al. (2009) Effects of gemfibrozil on outcome after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice. Brain Res 1279:121-30
Fukuhara, Chiaki; Tosini, Gianluca (2008) Analysis of daily and circadian gene expression in the rat pineal gland. Neurosci Res 60:192-8

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