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Gillette, Martha U.
Alumni Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, Molecular and Integrative Physiology, College of Medicine
B.A., Grinnell College
M.S., University of Hawaii
Ph.D., University of Toronto
Research Areas
The neurobiology of time: Integrative, Cellular and molecular mechanisms in the brain's circadian clock
We study the neural bases of behavior by probing mechanisms that pattern circadian rhythms. The clock in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) generates near 24-h rhythms of physiology and behavior, such as sleep/wakefulness. These oscillations are synchronized to day and night through dynamic cycles of sensitivity to neurochemical signals. Light and its messenger, glutamate, delay the clock early but advance it late at night. We are probing the identity of signaling molecules that confer this time-of-day sensitivity and the mechanisms by which they engage the molecular clockwork encoded in genes such as period and timeless. Key elements include NMDA receptor signaling, Ca2+ fluxes, translocation of transcription factors and alterations in gene expression. In parallel, we study cholinergic regulation of the SCN from brain sites critical to sleep. What gates these state transitions and alters timekeeping? We are probing these questions through studies that integrate behavioral measures and brain slice physiology with cell, molecular and imaging techniques. New endeavors include proteomic/genomic analyses of neurons, some at the nano-scale, with collaborators on our campus.
Representative Publications
Wang, Z., Millet, L. J., Gillette, M. U., Popescu, G. 2008. Jones phase microscopy of transparent and anisotropic samples. Optics Letters 33, 1270.
Gillette MU, and Sejnowski TJ 2005. Physiology. Biological clocks coordinately keep life on time. Science 19;309(5738):1196-8.
Buchanan GF, and Gillette MU. 2005. New light on an old paradox: site-dependent effects of carbachol on circadian rhythms. Exp Neurol. 193(2):489-96.
Tischkau SA, and Gillette MU. 2005. Oligodeoxynucleotide methods for analyzing the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Methods Enzymol. 393:593-610.
Tischkau SA, Mitchell JW, Pace LA, Barnes JW, Barnes JA, and Gillette MU. 2004. Protein kinase G type II is required for night-to-day progression of the mammalian circadian clock. Neuron. 43(4):539-49.
Additional Information
Collaborative Projects:
Professor Rhanor Gillette (Molecular and Integrative Physiology) - Measuring nitric oxide release from brain slices
Professor Enrico Gratton (Fluroescence Dynamics Lab, Physics) - Imaging spatiotemporal changes Ca2+ and nitric oxide in single neurons within brain slices
Professor Jonathon Sweedler (Chemistry, Bioengineering) - Measuring peptide release via retinohypothalamic stimulation in brain slices
Related Research (By Area):
Cell Signaling and Communication
Learning, Memory, and Plasticity
Neurological and Psychiatric Conditions
Sensory and Motor Systems
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