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Dr. Rick Morrisett

Professor
Ph.D. in Pharmacology,
University of Alabama-Birmingham, 1987
Post-doctoral research in Neurobiology,
Duke University Medical Center, 1990.

Mail Code: A1915
Pharmacology and Toxicology Division
Austin, TX 78712

     

Office phone (512)471-1911
Lab phone (512)471-1018
Email: ramorris@mail.utexas.edu

Personal Pages: Dr. Morrisett's CV


Research Interests:

My primary research interests center upon the role of amino-acid derived neurotransmitter systems and synaptic transmission in alterations that in underlie a variety of forms of neural functioning and pathologies. These include synaptic changes that occur during the induction and expression of alcohol-related disorders, learning and memory, neuronal development and the development of epilepsy. Major techniques in use in my lab include virtually all in vitro electrophysiological measures in use in neuroscience today (from extracellular recordings of synaptic plasticity to patch clamp recording of quantal synaptic currents). Another faculty in my group, Regina Maldve, PhD, oversees the protein and molecular techniques in our research program and focuses upon kinase-dependent alterations underlying ethanol neuroadaptation in amygdala structures.


Affiliations and Honors:

-Associate Professor, Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, University of Texas at Austin, 1997-present.
-Member of the Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, 1997-present.
-Adjunct Associate Professor, Section of Neurobiology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1999-present.
-National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) ALTX-3 regular study section member, 1998-present.
-1996 Young Investigator Award, University of Nebraska College of Medicine.
-1994 Young Investigator Award, Research Society for Alcoholism.
-1998 Editorial Review Board, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics


Representative Publications:

 

Hendricson, A.W., Maldve, R.E., Zhang, T.A., Diaz, L.M., Han, Y., Morrisett, R.A.  Aberrant synaptic activation of NMDA receptors underlies ethanol withdrawal hyperexcitability, J Pharmacol Exp Therap, under revision.

Zhang, T.A., Wilkemeyer, M.F., Lippmann, M.J., Charness, M.E., Morrisett, R.A.  Synergistic effects of peptide fragment NAPVSIPQ on ethanol inhibition of synaptic plasticity in rat hippocampus,Neuroscience 134:583-93, 2005.

Zhang T.A., Hendricson, A.W., Morrisett, R.A.  Dual synaptic sites of D1-dopaminergic regulation of ethanol sensitivity of NMDA receptors in nucleus accumbensSynapse 58:30-44, 2005.

Maldve, R.E., Chen, X., Zhang, T.A., Morrisett, R.A.  Ethanol selectively inhibits enhanced vesicular release at excitatory synapses:  Real-time visualization in intact hippocampal slices. Alcoholism: Clinical Experimental Research 28:143-152, 2004.

Hendricson, A.H., Sibbald J.R., Morrisett, R.A.  Ethanol alters the frequency, amplitude, and decay kinetics of Sr2+-supported, asynchronous NMDAR mEPSCs in rat hippocampal slicesJ Neurophysiology 91:2568-2577, 2004.

Diaz, L.M., Maiya, R., Sullivan, M.A., Han, Y., Walton H.A., Boehm S.L. II, Bergeson S.E., Mayfield R.D., Morrisett R.A.  Sindbis viral-mediated expression of eGFP-dopamine D1 receptorsin situ with real-time two-photon microscopic detectionJ Neuroscience Methods 139:25-31, 2004.

Hendricson, A.W., Thomas, M.P., Lippmann, M.P., Morrisett, R.A.  Suppression of L-type voltage-gated calcium channel dependent synaptic plasticity by ethanol: Analysis of miniature synaptic currents and dendritic calcium transients.J Pharmacology Experimental Therapeutics 307:550-558, 2003.

Maldve RE, Zhang TA, Ferrani-Kile K, Schreiber SS, Lippmann MJ, Snyder GL, Fienberg AA, Leslie SW, Gonzales RA, Morrisett RA. DARPP-32 and regulation of the ethanol sensitivity of NMDA receptors in the nucleus accumbens, Nature Neuroscience, 5: 641-648, 2002. (pdf)

Harris RA, Morrisett RA. Two-shot cocktail: Adenosine, dopamine and a twist of βγ. Nature Medicine, 8:777-779, 2002. (pdf)

Hendricson AW, Miao CLA, Lippmann MJ, Morrisett R.A. Ifenprodil and ethanol enhance NMDA receptor-dependent long-term depression. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 301: 938-944, 2002. (pdf)

Thomas M.P. and Morrisett R.A. Dynamics of NMDAR-mediated neurotoxicity during chronic ethanol exposure and withdrawal, Neuropharmacology, 39:218-226,2000. (pdf)

Lewohl J.M., Wilson W.R., Mayfield, R.D., Brozowski, S.J., Morrisett, R.A. and Harris, R.A. G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels: Targets of ethanol action. Nature Neuroscience, 2:1084-90, 1999.(pdf)

Morrisett, R.A. and Thomas, M.P. Of Mice and Minis: Novel forms and analyses of ethanol effects on synaptic transmission. In: The Drunken Synapse, Y. Liu and W.A. Hunt., eds., Plenum Press, 1999.

Thomas, M.P., Webster, W.W., Norgren R.B, Monaghan D.T., Morrisett, R.A. Survival and functional demonstration of interregional pathways in fore/midbrain slice explant cultures, Neuroscience 85: 615-626 , 1998.

Thomas, M.P., Davis, M.I., Monaghan, D.T., Morrisett, R.A. Organotypic brain slice cultures for functional analysis of alcohol-related disorders: Novel versus conventional preparations. Alcoholism: Clinical Exp. Res. 22: 51-59, 1998.

Thomas, M.P., Monaghan D.T., Morrisett, R.A. Evidence for a causative role of NMDA receptors in an in vitro model of alcohol withdrawal hyperexcitability. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Therap. 287: 87-97, 1998. (pdf)

Morrisett R.A. Electrophysiologic characteristics of Heteromeric Recombinant NMDA receptors.: Comparison with native receptors. In: The Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors, R. Wenthold, D. Monaghan (eds.), Humana Press, NY, 1996.

Zheng J., Morrisett R.A., Jianhua Zhu and Hexum, T.D. Neuropeptide Y (18-36) modulates chromaffin cell catecholamine secretion by blocking the nicotinic receptor ion channel. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Therap. 274: 891-897, 1995.

Buller A.L., Morrisett, R.A. and Monaghan, D.T. Glycine modulates ethanol inhibition of heteromeric N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Mol. Pharmacol. 48: 717-723, 1995.

Buller, A.L., Clark, H.C., Schneider, B.J., Morrisett, R.A., Monaghan, D.T. Anatomical and pharmacological properties of NMDA receptor subtypes: Native pharmacology predicted by subunit composition. J. Neuroscience 14: 5471-5484, 1994.

Morrisett, R.A., Swartzwelder, H.S. Attenuation of hippocampal long-term potentiation by ethanol: A patch clamp analysis of glutamatergic and GABAergic mechanisms. J. Neuroscience 13: 2264-2272, 1993.

Hosford, D., Clark, S., Cao Z., Wilson, W.A., Lin, F-H., Morrisett, R.A., Huin, A. Activation of GABAB receptors in lethargic mice with absence seizures. Science 257: 398-401, 1992.

Xie, C.W., Morrisett, R.A., Lewis, D.V. Mu opiod receptor-mediated modulation of synaptic currents in dentate granule cells of rat hippocampus. J. Neurophysiology 68: 1113-1120 (1992).

Morrisett, R.A., Mott, D.O., Lewis, D.V., Swartzwelder, H.S., Wilson, W.A. GABAB-mediated inhibition of the NMDA component of synaptic transmission in area CA1 of rat hippocampus. J. Neuroscience 11: 203-209 (1991).


Dr. Morrisett's CV

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