Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2005
Mentor: Stephen J. Gold, Ph.D.
Department: Psychiatry
Room number: NC5.410
Mail Code: 9070
Phone number: 214.648.5547
E-mail: Stephen.gold@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: The role of RGS proteins in brain
Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):
Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):
Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects) Human post-mortem studies.
Brief Description of Project:
G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of receptors in mammals
and are the principal signal transducers for neuromodulatory neurotransmitters
in brain. Many drugs developed to treat CNS disorders target neurotransmission
that occurs via GPCRs. Recently, a large family of proteins, the Regulators
of G protein Signaling (RGS) family of proteins, has been identified that negatively
modulate GPCR signaling. My lab is using a host of techniques spanning the behavioral
to the molecular aimed at furthering our understanding of the mechanism by which
a subset of these proteins modulate identified circuits in brain. The projects
described below are suitable for summer Medical Student Research fellows. Please
feel free to contact me if you would like to learn more about the projects.
Project 1 will utilize quantitative Western blot analysis of human post-mortem
samples to assess whether the activity of RGS9-2 is altered in the striatum
of depressed, suicide victims. Project 2 will utilize dual-labeling techniques
and confocal microscopy to identify the neuronal phenotype of hippocampal interneurons
that abundantly express RGS10 protein. Project 3 will utilize behavioral assays
to behaviorally phenotype an RGS10 KO mouse.
Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:
Dr. Gold has been involved in training students in research since his graduate
studies at the University of California, Irvine. There he mentored 3 undergraduate
students through UCI's intensive undergraduate honors research assistant program.
As a post-doctoral fellow at Yale University, Dr. Gold mentored two undergraduate
students that are currently pursuing their MSTP studies at Harvard Medical School
and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Since joining the faculty at UTSW in
2000, Dr. Gold has mentored students in the Student Teacher Access to Research
at Southwestern (STARS) program, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
(SURF) program The Texas Academy of Math and Sciences Summer Research Fellowship
Program and is currently mentoring a 5th year MD/Ph.D student, Jeff Waugh.
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