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Douglas  A.  Bayliss
Degree(s): Ph.D.
Graduate School: University of North Carolina
Primary Appointment: Professor and Chair of Pharmacology
Research Interests:
Mechanisms of Neuromodulation in Central Neurons

Email Address: dab3y@virginia.edu
Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program(s)
  • Neuroscience
  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology
    • Research Description

    Mechanisms of Neuromodulation in Central Neurons Signaling between cells in the brain relies on electrical and chemical transmission. Ion channels traverse brain cell membranes to serve as conduits for the flow of ionic current, which creates the potential differences across the membrane that are ultimately responsible for triggering release of chemical messengers that act on nearby neurons. Our laboratory attempts to characterize neuronal signaling in terms of identifying the molecular basis for neuronal ion channels and understanding cellular mechanisms that modulate their activity. We are particularly interested in studying those ion channels that determine intrinsic excitability of brain cells, because they are often subject to regulation by endogenous neurochemicals and since they ultimately mediate effects of many drugs, therapeutic and otherwise. A number of technical approaches are employed in our laboratory, including chemical neuroanatomy, cellular electrophysiology in brain tissue and transfected cells, molecular biology and in vivo gene transfer. Our hope is that information combined from these different approaches will illuminate mechanisms responsible for physiological and pharmacological modulation of neuronal excitability.

    Selected Publications
  • Berg, A.P, Sen, N. and Bayliss, D.A. TrpC3/C7 and Slo2.1 are molecular targets for metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling in rat striatal cholinergic interneurons. Journal of Neuroscience (In Press).
  • Chen, X., Talley, E.M., Patel, N., Gomis, A., Dong, B., McIntire, W.E., Viana, F., Garrison, J.C., and Bayliss, D.A. (2006) Inhibition of a background potassium channel by Gq-protein alpha-subunits. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103: 3422-3427.
  • Chen, X., Sirois, J.E., Lei, Q., Lynch, C. III, Talley, E.M. and Bayliss, D.A. (2005) HCN subunit-specific and cAMP-modulated effects of anesthetics on neuronal pacemaker currents. Journal of Neuroscience 25: 5803-5814.
  • Mulkey, D.K., Stornetta, R.L., Weston, M.C., Simmons, J.R., Parker, A., Bayliss, D.A. and Guyenet, P.G. (2004) Respiratory control by ventral surface chemoreceptor neurons in rats. Nature Neuroscience 7: 1360-1369.
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    Contact Information
      Office Address: PO Box 800735, Jordan Hall 5th Fl, 5015, 
      Office Phone: +1 434-982-4449, +1 434-982-4466
      Fax Phone: +1 434-982-3878
      Home Phone: +1 434-293-2053

    Other Websites for this mentor:
    http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/dab_lab/

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