Pharmacology and Neuroscience
Dr. Ali Roghani
Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 1986
Structure function, regulation and mechanism(s) of action of synaptic vesicle neurotransmitter transporters
The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) is necessary for various physiological processes such as muscle contraction and sleep. It has also been implicated in learning and memory and pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s and related neurological diseases.
Using cell & molecular and neurochemical methodologies, we are studying regulation of genes and proteins involved in ACh synthesis and metabolism. In a somewhat related project, we are employing molecular and behavioral approaches to identify and characterize genes involved in learning and memory in rats. In these studies, we rely on a behavioral response model called Pavlovian fear-condition learning.
Selected Publications
Sharifzadeh, M., Woolf, N.J., Akrofi, A., Paguyo, S., Pani, A.K., and Roghani, A. (2003). A Time Course Analysis of TrkA Receptor Role in Pavlovian Fear-Condition Learning. Effects of Antisense Knockdown of TrkA on Cholinergic Markers, VAChT and ChAT (in preparation).
Pani, A. K. and A. Roghani (2003) Opioid and non-opioid fragments of dynorphin modulate the activity of mesostriatal acetylcholinergic neurons, (Submitted).
Pani, A. K., A. Roghani and R. P. Croll (2003) Neurochemical identification of peptide-like substances in the scallop: possible neuroendocrine control of growth and reproduction (Submitted).
Roghani, A. and Carroll, P.T. (2002). Analysis of uptake and release of newly synthesized acetylcholine in PC12 cells overexpressing the rat vesicular acetylcholine transporter(VAChT). Molecular Brain Research 100, 21-30.
Roghani, A., Shirzadi, A., Butcher, L.L., and Edwards, R.H. (1998). Distribution, and characterizations of the vesicular transporter for acetylcholine in the rat central nervous system. Neuroscience 82, 1195-1212.
Woolf, N.J., Milov A.M., Schweitzer, E.S., and Roghani. A. (2000). Elevation of nerve growth factor and antisense knockdown of TrkA receptor during contextual memory consolidation. J. Neuroscience 21, 1047-1055.
Roghani, A., Shirzadi, A., Butcher, L.L., and Edwards, R.H. (1998). Distribution, and characterizations of the vesicular transporter for acetylcholine in the rat central nervous system. Neuroscience 82, 1195-1212.
Gilmore, M.L., Nash, R.R., Roghani, A., Edwards, R.H., Yi, H., Hersch, S.M., and Levey, A.I. (1996). Expression of the putative vesicular acetylcholine transporter in rat brain and localization in cholinergic synaptic vesicles. J. Neuroscience 16, 2179-90.
For further information contact Dr. Ali Roghani