The purpose of this project is to determine the expression of three nicotinic receptor subunits in postmortem brain of control and schizophrenic smokers and non-smokers.
We have shown that schizophrenics have decreased levels of both high- and low- affinity nicotinic receptors in multiple brain regions (Freedman et al 1995; Breese et al 2000) . Recently we have found that the a 7 nicotinic receptor is differentially regulated by smoking in schizophrenic hippocampus (Mexal et al 2005) . The proposed experiment will investigate the expression of nicotinic receptors in a second brain region, cingulated gyrus, which has been implicated in cognitive deficits in the disorder. The student would work with two technicians and a postdoc in the laboratory to measure mRNA levels (QRTPCR), protein levels (western blot), and surface receptors (ligand binding) for three nicotinic receptor subunits, including a 7, a 4 and b 2. The a * receptor constitutes the low-affinity nicotine binding and a 4 b * receptors the high-affinity binding (Leonard Bertrand 2001) . Postmortem cingulated gyrus from 20 controls and 20 schizophrenics will be analyzed. Smoking status is known. These experiments will provide information on expression and regulation of three receptor subunits in the same tissue, an important replication of previous work in the laboratory. The student would how to handle human postmortem tissue and a variety of molecular biological techniques.
Preceptor Information |
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| Name: | Sherry Leonard |
| Department: | Psychiatry |
| Location: | Research Tower 1, 8th Floor |
| Fitzsimmons Campus | |
| Contact: | 303-724-4426 or 303-315-8412 |
| sherry.leonard@uchsc.edu | |
| Faculty/Lab Website: | |
Position Information |
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| Openings | 1 |
| Funding: | DA09457; MH-81177, Veterans Affairs Medical Research Service |