| | Principal Investigators
| Miles Herkenham,
Ph.D |
 |
|
Dr.
Herkenham received a B.A. degree from Amherst College
in 1970 and his Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology from
Northeastern University in 1975. He did postdoctoral
training with Dr. W.J.H. Nauta at M.I.T., where he began
a long career in neuroanatomical localization studies.
Dr. Herkenham joined the NIMH in 1977. He has published
in the areas of neural connectivity, opioid and cannabinoid
receptor localization, therapeutic actions of antidepressant
drugs, and more recently, immune signal molecule induction
and function in the brain. As
Chief of the Section on Functional Neuroanatomy of the Laboratory
of Cellular and Molecular Regulation, Dr. Herkenham
explores the molecular, cellular, and intercellular
bases for immune signaling in the brain in several animal
models of inflammation, emotionality and disease. |
| Research Interests |
|
Dr. Herkenham’s group uses the tools of modern neuroanatomy to investigate nervous
system regulatory events that occur in animals when they respond and adapt to immune
challenges, drug administration, emotional challenges, or stress. Responsive brain
structures and cell types are identified by in situ hybridization histochemistry,
immunohistochemistry, and molecular tools. The group is currently studying the induction
of immune signal molecules such as cytokines in the brain in several in vivo paradigms.
Recent work focuses on the role of NF-kB signaling the brain, particularly within
emotional circuitry and in response to pathologic challenges. Approaches used include
central and peripheral administration of cytokines or bacterial products; use of DNA
microarray, knockout mice, bone marrow stem cells, and viral-based delivery of DNA
constructs to limbic system targets; and characterization of behavioral and biochemical
alterations in transgenic knockout mice with altered transcription factor signaling. |
| Representative Selected Recent Publications: |
- Bryceson YT, Foster JA, Kuppusamy SP, Herkenham M, Long EO:
Expression of a killer cell receptor-like gene in plastic regions of the central nervous system.
Journal of Neuroimmunology, 161:177-182, 2005. (View PDF)
- Chakravarty S, Herkenham M:
Toll-like receptor 4 on nonhematopoietic cells sustains CNS inflammation during endotoxemia, independent of systemic cytokines.
Journal of Neuroscience, 25: 1788-1796, 2005. (View PDF)
- Kassed CA, Herkenham M:
NF-kappaB p50-deficient mice show reduced anxiety-like behaviors in tests of exploratory drive and anxiety.
Journal of Neuroscience, 154: 577-584, 2004. (View PDF)
- Foster JA, Puchowicz MJ, McIntyre DC, Herkenham M:
Activin mRNA induced during amygdala kindling shows a spatiotemporal progression that tracks the spread of seizures.
Journal of Comparative Neurology, 476: 91-102, 2004. (View PDF)
- Proescholdt MG, Quigley L, Martin R, Herkenham M:
Immunization with a cannabinoid receptor type 1 peptide results in experimental allergic meningocerebellitis in the Lewis rat: a model for cell-mediated autoimmune neuropathology.
J. Neuroscience Research, 70: 150-160, 2002. (View PDF)
- Proescholdt, M. G., Chakravarty, S., Foster, J. A., Foti, S. B.,
Briley, E. M., and Herkenham, M.:
Intracerebroventricular but not intravenous interleukin-1β induces widespread vascular-mediated
leukocyte infiltration and immune signal mRNA expression followed by brain-wide glial activation.
Neuroscience, 112: 731-749, 2002. (View PDF)
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