The Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology program has an internationally recognized faculty who bring their talents and expertise to new and ongoing endeavors. The program focuses on the following key topical areas of molecular pharmacology research:
Free Radical Biology
Neurobiology
Gene Expression and Cell Signaling
The program, in collaboration with the researchers in Pharmaceutical Sciences, has also become an international center for the study of aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Toward this end, faculty join their expertise to seek understanding and cures for debilitating, age-related diseases.
Free Radical Biology
Life in an oxygen-rich environment requires mechanisms to cope with the toxic free radicals that are created as a byproduct of the utilization of oxygen. Health depends on the balance between the beneficial and toxic effects of oxygen. When the toxic aspects predominate, health deteriorates. Therapeutic intervention may be able to forestall or reverse the deleterious effects; this is a basic research goal of the program's research.
Diseases associated with free radical-initiated damage include heart disease, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In the Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology program there are exceptional, internationally recognized faculty investigating each of these aspects of free radical biology. In addition, the neurobiology and cell signaling focus groups investigate aspects of free radical impact on gene expression, neurodegeneration and behavior.
The principal members of the faculty within this focus group are Dr. Enrique Cadenas and Dr. Rajinder Sohal. Further details about their research can be found in their faculty profiles.
Neurobiology
Neurobiology currently represents one of the most intensively investigated and most exciting areas of biological science. With the broad outlines of many aspects of molecular biology being resolved, understanding the bases for learning, memory and cognition have emerged as a major goal of contemporary research. From an understanding of molecular mechanisms comes the potential for therapies to improve each of these aspects of neuronal function.
Investigators in the Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology program are applying highly sophisticated approaches to examine the basis of neurotransmission, and how it can affect learning, memory and behavioral responses. The state-of-the-art approaches used include genetically-manipulated knockout mice to dissect the basis of neural function, gene expression and behavior. A special unit devoted to the study of alcoholism combines analyses of gene expression, neuronal receptors and behavior to understand the molecular basis of this crippling disease. The debilitating loss of cognition occurring in certain elderly individuals, typified by Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, is yet another focus within this unit of the program.
The principal members of the faculty within this focus group are Dr. Jim Adams, Dr. Ron Alkana, Dr. Roberta Brinton and Dr. Jean Shih. Further details about their research can be found in their faculty profiles.
Gene Expression and Cell Signaling
Ultimately, genes and their products impact every aspect of biology. Changing patterns of gene expression mediate the development of humans from birth, the occurrence and progression of disease, and can predict the response to therapeutic agents.
Program research includes studies on many stages of gene regulation, from transcription to translation, to the signals that govern gene expression changes. A major focus of contemporary pharmacology, embraced by academia and the pharmaceutical industry, is the dissection of molecular pathways that determine cell state, often referred to as signal transduction pathways. Program research focuses on pathways that control differentiation and transformation to a cancerous state.
The principal members of the faculty within this focus group are Dr. Bangyan Stiles and Dr. Roger Duncan. Further details about their research can be found in their faculty profiles.