
Position Title
Professor
Unit
NPB, Ophthalmology - Medicine
Degrees
1981 PhD (Biology) University of California, Los Angeles
Research Interests
Vertebrate retinae use fast neurotransmitters to signal moment-to-moment changes in the distribution of incident light. Retinae contain an additional set of neurotransmitters which operate on slower time scales to modulate signal generation and transmission. One of these slowly acting neurotransmitters - dopamine - has been found to regulate light responses, chemical synapses, electrical coupling, and extrasynaptic currents of cells at every level of the retina. Dopamine release is increased by illumination and the effects produced by dopamine help the retina function as the "front end" of the visual system during daylight. Our laboratory studies how dopamine modulates action potentials and voltage-gated ion currents in adult mammalian retinal ganglion cells. We are identifying effects of dopamine and related ligands on ganglion cell excitability, digital and analog properties of spikes, currents activated by either depolarization or hyperpolarization, and signaling cascade components. We are pursuing these projects by use of patch-clamp recording, fast voltage-clamp, multielectrode array recording, immunohistochemistry, immunoprecipitation, calcium imaging, primary cell culture, and organotypic culture.
Awards
ASUCD Excellence in Education Award (College of Biological Sciences)
Outstanding Service Award (Neuroscience Graduate Group)
CBS Grad Group Affiliations
Neuroscience
Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology
Specialties / Focus
Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology
- Neurophysiology
Labs
Ishida Lab
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Jeff Johnson, Gloria Partida, Andrew Ishida
Teaching Interests
Neuroscience, Physiology, Visual System
Courses
NPB 101 Systemic Physiology
NPB 261A Topics in Vision