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| Ted B. Usdin, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Investigator |
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Dr. Usdin received his B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins University. He received M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Medical Scientist Training Program at Washington University in St. Louis. His graduate work with Gerald Fischbach focused on the identification of factors responsible for neuromuscular junction development. Dr. Usdin completed a residency in psychiatry at Stanford University and then in 1990 joined the Laboratory of Cell Biology in NIMH. In 1997 he became an Investigator in the Laboratory of Genetics in NIMH. Dr. Usdin's laboratory is exploring the biological role of tuberoinfundibular peptide, a new neuropeptide that his group recently discovered.
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Staff:
- Dr. Arpad Dobolyi, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow adobolyi@codon.nih.gov
- Catherine Faber, Post baccalaureate Fellow faberca@intra.nimh.nih.gov
- Mr. Jonathan Kuo, M.S., Research Assistant jkuo@codon.nih.gov
- Dr. Mark Paciga, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow markparciga@mail.nih.gov
- Timothy Riordan , Research Assistant riordant@mail.nih.gov
- Dr. Jing Wang, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow jingwang@mail.nih.gov
Research Interests:
Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, together with their receptors and transporters, are molecules responsible for communication between neurons. These molecules provide accessible sites for studying modulation of neuronal circuits, and are the targets for many drugs. Our work over the last several years lead to the discovery and identification of several neurotransmitter transporters and receptors, and characterization of their genes. Projects in my laboratory are aimed at opening new areas for exploration of neurobiological function, understanding the biological functions of newly discovered genes, and asking whether they contribute to disease pathology or whether they are potential sites for therapeutic intervention.
A recent project in the laboratory started with our discovery of a receptor that we named the parathyroid hormone 2 (PTH2) receptor. This receptor is activated by parathyroid hormone, but its anatomical distribution and functional differences between the receptor isolated from several species lead us to look for an another endogenous peptide that might be its physiological ligand. We recently purified a previously unknown polypeptide, TIP39, from the hypothalamus based on selective activation of the PTH2 receptor. A number of projects in the laboratory are now aimed at elucidating the physiological role of this new peptide-receptor system. These include testing specific hypotheses for its function that are derived from our mapping of their anatomical distributions. Testing TIP39 and the PTH2 receptor as modulators of pain perception and pituitary hormone secretion are ongoing projects. We use a wide range of approaches and techniques including molecular cloning, protein purification, functional neuroanatomy, molecular pharmacology, whole animal behavior and pharmacology, generation of transgenic mice, and cDNA microarrays.
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Selected Recent Publications:
LaBuda, C. J., A. Dobolyi, and T.B. Usdin. (2004) Tuberoinfundibular Peptide of 39 Residues Produces Anxiolytic and Antidepressant Actions., NeuroReport 15, 881-885..
Dobolyi, A. M. Palkovits, I. Bodnar, and T. B. Usdin (2003) Neurons containing tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues projecto to limbic, endocrine, auditory and spinal areas in rat., Neuroscience 22, 1093-1105..
Dobolyi, A., M. Palkovits, and T. B. Usdin (2003) Expression and distribution of tuberoinfundibular peptide of 39 residues in the rat central nervous system, Journal of Comparative Neurology 455, 547-566.
Full Text/Abstract
Dobolyi, A., H. Ueda, H. Uchida, M. Palkovits, and T. B. Usdin (2002) Anatomical and Physiological Evidence for Involvement of Tuberoinfundibular Peptide of 39 Residues in Nociception, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 99, 1651-1656.
Full Text/Abstract
All Selected Publications
Contact Information:
Dr. Ted B. Usdin
Laboratory of Genetics, NIMH
Porter Neuroscience Research Center
Building 35. Room 1B-215
35 Covent Drive, MSC 3728
Bethesda, MD 20892-3728
Telephone: (301) 402-6976 (office),
(301) 435-5465 (fax)
Email: usdin@codon.nih.gov
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