(405) 271-8001 Ext. 45514
Education:
PhD, Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainsesville, Florida
BS, Cell Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
Clinical/Research Interests:
Synopsis:
The Sherry lab explores the organization of synapses in health and disease, investigating the functional roles of lipids and synaptic adhesion proteins in organizing synaptic structure and transmission in the developing, healthy, and neurodegenerating brain and retina. Methods focus primarily on imaging approaches using fluorescent, confocal, super-resolution, and electron microscopy.
Ongoing Research:
The circuitry of the central nervous system is characterized by exquisitely precise patterns of synaptic connections between nerve cells. Disruptions in these connections and their function are associated with a wide range of neural diseases. Research in my lab focuses on the organization of synapses in health and disease.
A major research focus is a multi-lab collaboration exploring the synaptic functions of the enzyme ELOVL4 (Elongation of Very Long Chain Fatty Acids-4) and its Very Long Chain-Fatty Acid products (VLC-FA, fatty acids with ≥ 28 carbons). Three different sets of mutations in ELOVL4 cause three distinct neurodegenerative diseases, Spinocerebellar Ataxia-34 (SCA34), Stargardt-like macular dystrophy (STDG3), or a devastating Neuro-Ichthyosis syndrome characterized by seizures, intellectual disability, spastic quadriplegia, ichthyosis (a skin disorder) and early death. Our recent findings indicate that VLC-Saturated Fatty Acids are important regulators of synaptic function. This project examines the molecular mechanisms and downstream effects of ELOVL4 mutations and VLC-Saturated Fatty Acid deficiency on synaptic structure, organization and function in the brain and retina at the molecular, biochemical, physiological, and neuroanatomical levels.
A second area of interest in the lab is understanding how the exquisite specificity of synaptic connections in the central nervous system are incompletely understood. This project investigates the roles of various families of synaptic adhesion molecules in determining the organization and selectivity of the complex synaptic interactions at the terminals of rod and cone photoreceptors in the retina. Understanding the mechanisms that shape synaptic connections and function is critical to developing new approaches to alleviate synaptic transmission deficits associated with disease (SCA, epilepsy, retinal degeneration, etc.) or to promote repair of circuits damaged by injury or degenerative disease.