|
Faculty
Research Interests: My research program is directed at elucidating the molecular mechanisms that underlie alcohol-mediated alterations in gene expression in the brain. Alcohol, one of the most abused drugs in our society, is known to affect a number of receptor systems in the central nervous system. Of these, the NMDA receptors have emerged as an important site for the action of alcohol, contributing to the development of alcohol dependence, tolerance and alcohol withdrawal syndrome. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, the excitatory receptors in the central nervous system, are involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Exposure to chronic alcohol (ethanol) both in vivo and in vitro results in an up regulation of NMDA receptor function and number. In our laboratory, we are particularly interested in delineating the molecular mechanism(s) by which chronic ethanol up regulates NMDA receptor number in an in vitro model system of fetal cortical neurons. To accomplish this goal, we employ a multi-methodological approach that utilizes techniques in molecular biology, biochemistry and cell culture. Selected Publications: Kumari, M., Anji, A., Woods, H., and Ticku, M.K. (2003) The molecular effects of alcohol: Clues to alcohol's enigmatic action! Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences . 993:82-94; discussion 123-4, 2003. Anji A., Kamran A. Shaik and Meena Kumari (2003) Effect of Ethanol on Lipid-mediated Transfection of Primary Cortical Neurons. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences . 993:95-102; discussion 123-4, 2003. Kumari, M. Differential effects of chronic ethanol treatment on NMDA R1 splice variants in cultured fetal cortical neurons. J. Biol. Chem. 276:29764-29771, 2001. Kumari, M. and Anji, A. Sequencing through GC-rich and AT-rich sequences with the SequiTherm Excel II DNA sequencing kit. Epicentre Forum, 8(3):9, 2001. Anji, A., Sullivan-Hanley, N.R., Kumari, M. and Hensler, J.G. The role of protein kinase C in the regulation of serotonin-2A receptor expression. J. Neurochem. 77:589-597, 2001. Anji, A., Kumari, M., Sullivan-Hanley, N.R., Bryan, G.L. and Hensler, J.G. Regulation of 5HT2A receptor mRNA levels and binding sites in rat frontal cortex by agonist and antagonist treatment. Neuropharmacology. 39:1996-2000, 2000. Ethanol and expression of NMDA R1 splice variants in fetal cortical neurons. Neurosci. Abstr., 2001. Evidence of the presence of four NR1 splice variants in mouse cortical neurons. Alcoholism: Clinical and Exp. Res. 25(Suppl):21, 2001.
|
