| Principal Investigators
Dennis L. Murphy, M.D. |
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Dr.
Murphy is the Chief of the Laboratory
of Clinical Science in the National Institute
of Mental Health Intramural Research Program. He received
his undergraduate and medical degrees from Marquette University
and completed his internship and residency programs at
the University of Minnesota and Johns Hopkins University.
He has received awards for his research, serves on the
editorial boards of neuroscience and pharmacology journals,
and is on the Advisory Boards of Associations and Foundations. |
Research Interests |
The
Laboratory of Clinical Science (LCS) explores the neurobiology
of neuropsychiatric disorders using molecular, neurochemical
and genetic techniques. Its present focus links studies
of transgenic mice with clinical brain disorders using
gene-environment interaction models. The serotonin neurotransmitter
system and one of its key molecules, the serotonin transporter
(SERT) is the primary target of LCS research. The development
of the SERT knockout mouse in the LCS provided a new living
tool to discover what the serotonin system does, as SERT
and serotonin receptors are the target molecules for the
largest numbers of neuropsychiatric drugs used in the
world. The 30 plus neurochemical, behavioral and other
phenotypic changes discovered in the serotonin knockout
mouse are helping to guide the LCS and other laboratories
in investigations of the more than 10 variants recently
discovered in the human SERT gene. |
Representative Selected Recent Publications: |
- Murphy DL, Lerner A, Rudnick G, Lesch K-P:
Serotonin Transporter: Gene, Genetic Disorders and Pharmacogenetics.
Molecular Interventions, 2004 4:109-123.
- Li Q, Holmes A, Ma L, Van de Kar Louis D, Garcia F, Murphy DL:
Medial Hypothalamic 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)1A Receptors Regulate Neuroendocrine Responses to Stress and Exploratory Locomotor Activity: Application of Recombinant Adenovirus Containing 5-HT1A Sequences.
J Neurosci, 2004, 24:10868-10877.
- Kilic F, Murphy DL, Rudnick G:
A Human Serotonin Transporter Mutation Causes Constitutive Activation of Transport Activity.
Molecular Pharmacology, 2003, 64:1-7.
- Murphy DL, Uhl GR, Holmes A, Ren-Patterson R, Hall FS, Sora I, Detera-Wadleigh S, Lesch K-P:
Experimental gene interaction studies with SERT mutant mice as models for human polygenic and epistatic traits and disorders.
Genes, Brain and Behavior, 2003, 2:350-364.
- Sora I, Hall FS, Andrews AM, Itokawa M, Li X-F, Wei H-B, Wichems C, Lesch K-P, Murphy DL, Uhl GR:
Molecular mechanisms of cocaine reward: combined dopamine and serotonin transporter knockouts eliminate cocaine place preference.
PNAS, 2001, 98:5300-5305.
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