Amy Lee
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Neuroscience
Our senses depend on proteins that turn physical signals, such as light and touch, into electrical and chemical messages in neurons. This work studies two such molecules.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Physiology
- Topics
alpha2delta-4
inherited retinal disorders
retinitis pigmentosa
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Mar 2031
What they work on
- Generate renewable monoclonal antibodies and nanobodies that specifically recognize α2δ-4, the protein encoded by the retinal disease gene CACNA2D4, for electron and super-resolution light microscopy.
- Develop antibody-based tools that disrupt the interactions of α2δ-4 with specific protein partners, to probe its function in normal and diseased retina.
- Elucidate how the calcium-sensing protein caldendrin modulates the touch-sensing PIEZO2 channel in dorsal root ganglion neurons, using biochemistry and electrophysiology.
- Define how caldendrin shapes sex-specific nerve branch growth in sensory neurons, and how its loss in Cabp1 knockout mice leads to anxiety, antisocial and cognitive changes.
More about the research
One is needed for vision and is linked to inherited blindness. The other regulates touch and may connect touch sensitivity to autism. Both projects focus on how calcium-related proteins control channel activity in sensory cells, and how errors in this control lead to disease.
Why it matters
Inherited retinal disorders such as cone dystrophies and retinitis pigmentosa cause vision loss, and research on the CACNA2D4 gene is limited by a lack of tools. New antibodies and nanobodies could reveal disease mechanisms that might be targeted by therapies. Separately, understanding how caldendrin controls touch channels during development could inform diagnostic and intervention strategies for touch hypersensitivity and related traits in autism spectrum disorder.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Tylor Lewis
University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL·Neuroscience·Early-career
Comprehensively characterize retinal degeneration in global ADAM9 knockout mice, focusing on the interface between photoreceptor outer segments and the retinal pigment epithelium.
Donald Miller
Indiana University, IN·Biomedical Engineering
Measure the spectral sensitivity, or color response, of individual photoreceptors in the living human eye using adaptive-optics optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) with phase-sensitive detection.
Samuel Wu
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Neuroscience
Measure how electrical signals spread through the coupled network of rod photoreceptors, and how HCN ion channels shape this network behavior, using simultaneous multi-patch recordings.
The school
University of Texas at Austin: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.1B a year on research, 871 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.