Title
Professor
Education
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Post Doc Training
Roche Institute of Molecular Biology; Emory University
Major Interests
- I investigated comprehensively the functional roles of metabotropic glutamate receptors in lateral septal neurons and discovered the epileptiform burst firing elicited by mGluR agonists.
- My first R01 award focused on the understanding of allosteric regulation of NMDA receptor gating. I contributed to the identification of molecular determinants of the zinc site and the proton site of NMDA receptors, and the molecular determinants of NMDA receptor desensitization.
- I elucidated the contribution of canonical transient receptor (TRPC) channels to seizure and excitotoxicity. TRPC channels are calcium-permeable cation channels that can be activated by G-protein coupled receptors such as metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). We demonstrated that epileptiform burst firing induced by mGluR agonists is mediated by heteromeric TRPC1/4 channels. We also demonstrated that the functional role of TRPC5 channels is distinct from heteromeric TRPC1/4 channel. We demonstrated that TRPC7 channels play a critical role in the pilocarpine-induced gamma activity that precedes status epilepticus, whereas TRPC3 channels are critical for pilocarpine-induced theta activity that dominates the early stage of status epilepticus.
Highlighted Roles
- Associate Editor, Frontiers of Cellular Neuroscience
- IACUC member, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
- Grant Reviewer, Veterans Administration Neurobiology Study Section
Highlighted Publications
- Phelan, K.D., M.M. Mock, O. Kretz, U.T. Shwe, M. Kozhemyakin, L.J. Greenfield, A. Dietrich, L. Birnbaumer, M. Freichel, V. Flockerzi, F. Zheng. Heteromeric canonical transient receptor potential 1 and 4 channels play a critical role in epileptiform burst firing and seizure-induced neurodegeneration. Mol Pharmacol, 81(3): 384-392, 2012. PMCID: PMC3286301
- Phelan, K.D., U.T. Shwe, J. Abramowitz, L. Birnbaumer, F. Zheng. Critical role of canonical transient receptor potential channel 7 in initiation of seizures. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 111(31): 11533-11538, 2014. PMCID: PMC4128138
- Cozart, M.A., Phelan, K.D., Wu, H., Mu, S., Birnbaumer, L., Rusch, N.J., Zheng, F. Vascular smooth muscle TRPC3 channels facilitate the inverse hemodynamic response during status epilepticus. Sci Rep. 10(1): 812, 2020. PMCID: PMC6972937