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Jiang-Hong Ye, MD, MS
Department of Pharmacology and Physiology
UMDNJ - New Jersey Medical School
Medical Sciences Building ,E-590/E594
185 S. Orange Avenue
Newark , NJ 07103
Office: (973) 972-1866
Lab: (973) 972-4399
ye@njms.rutgers.edu
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The Role of Ion Channels of the Nervous
System In Anesthesia and Alcoholism
The laboratory is engaged in research in three areas: 1. Mechanisms
of general anesthetics. 2. Mechanisms of alcohol toxicity.
3. Mechanisms of acupuncture treatment of alcoholism. In addition
to the fact that alcohol is a general anesthetic, these three research
areas are related in terms of many of the techniques used, which
include: loose-patch cell-attached recording of the spontaneous
discharges of neurons, whole-cell and perforated patch clamp studies
of transmitter release, cell firings and ion channel function; acute
brain slices, spinal cord slices, acutely dissociated neurons, including
mechanically dissociated nerve-bouton preparations and enzymatically
dissociated neurons without nerve boutons.
Our work on inhalation anesthetics is directed towards understanding
the mechanisms by which inhalation anesthetics induce immobility.
Spinal motoneurons play a crucial role in mediating the immobilizing
effect of inhalation anesthetics. Inhalation anesthetics enhance
the function of inhibitory transmission and inhibit the excitatory
transmission. Our work focuses on the effects of inhalation anesthetics
on the cross-talk between the inhibitory glycinergic system and
the excitatory glutamatergic system in the ventral horn of the spinal
cord. Our studies investigate the role of glycine receptors on the
glutamatergic terminals in mediating the effects of inhalation anesthetics
induced inhibition of glutamate release, and consequently the excitability
of the spinal motoneurons.
Our work on alcohol toxicity is directed towards understanding
the mechanisms by which glycine receptors regulate the excitability
of dopaminergic neurons and sensitivity of these neurons to alcohol.
The laboratory is particularly interested in the role of the glycine
receptors on the GABAergic terminals, which synapse on the dopaminergic
neurons of the ventral tegmental area; a brain region mediates the
rewarding effects of abused drugs including alcohol. These glycine
receptors regulate GABA release and the excitability of the dopaminergic
neurons. These presynaptic glycine receptors play a critical role
in the susceptibility to alcohol. Activation of these presynaptic
glycine receptors significantly alters alcohol drinking in a rat
model.
Our work on acupuncture is directed towards understanding the mechanisms
by which acupuncture attenuates the changes induced by alcohol administration.
We are interested in the cellular changes of the mesolimbic system
in response to alcohol and following acupuncture.
In addition to our neurophysiological studies at the cellular and
molecular levels, we are also equipped for behavior studies, such
as tail flick and hot plate to assess pathological pain and analgesia
effects of anesthetics.
- Ye JH *, Wang FS, Krnjevic K, Wang W, Xiong ZG, Zhang JL. 2004.
Presynaptic Glycine Receptors on GABAergic Terminals facilitate
Discharge of Dopaminergic Neurons in Ventral Tegmental Area. J.
Neuroscience. 24(41):8961-8974.
- Zhu L, Ye JH *. 2005. The role of G proteins in the activity
and ethanol modulation of glycine-induced currents in rat neurons
freshly isolated from the ventral tegmental area. Brain Res. 1033(1):102-8.
- Cho KJ, Trzaska KA, Greco SJ, McArdle J, Wang FS, Ye JH , Rameshwar
P*. 2005 Neurons Derived From Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells Show
Synaptic Transmission and Can Be Induced to Produce the Neurotransmitter
Substance P by Interleukin-1{alpha}. Stem Cells. 23(3):383-91.
- Wang F, Xiao C, Ye JH * 2005 Taurine activates excitatory non-synaptic
glycine receptors on dopamine neurons in ventral tegmental area
of young rats. J. Physiology, in press.
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