Anne B Theibert Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Neurobiology; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology and BiophysicsUniversity of Alabama Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Civitan International Research Center
Department of Neurobiology
Birmingham, AL 35294-0021
205-934-7278 (tel)
[email protected]
http://www.mrrc.uab.edu/
Biography/Curriculum Vitae:
theibert_cv.pdf
Research Interests:
Phosphoinositides; developmental neurobiology; second messenger systems; synapse formation
Narrative of Current Research Efforts:
Role of Phosphoinositides in Developmental Neurobiology
Many diseases are linked to dysregulation of second messenger signaling cascades. One important second messenger system is the phosphoinositide (PI) system, in which inositol lipids function as second messengers and cofactors for many cellular activities stimulated by growth and trophic factors, hormones, cytokines, and neurotransmitters.
Dr. Theibert's research focuses on investigating the intracellular targets for several of the PI second messengers in the nervous system. Her team is particularly interested in the function of PtdInsP3 in neurons and glia, since we have demonstrated that this lipid is required for cells to extend processes, termed neurites, in response to trophic factors and extracellular matrix.
Neurites eventually form mature axons and dendrites, which contact each other at synapses, and allow for information transfer between neurons. Using biochemical and molecular techniques, Dr. Theibert's team has isolated and cloned several novel phosphoinositide receptors from brain. One of these receptors is involved in regulating vesicle trafficking and the actin cytoskeleton, two activities which are involved in neurite outgrowth and new synapse formation.
Studies are underway to determine the role of these receptors in neuronal development and synapse formation, and the molecular mechanisms which regulate receptor expression, targeting to intracellular compartments, and modulation of activity. Several potential homologues of these receptors are present in the genetically tractable organism, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which allows Dr. Theibert's team to use yeast genetics to complement the biochemical and molecular approaches in dissecting the function of these brain phosphoinositide receptors.
Major Honors and Awards:
Representative Publications:
Thacker, E., Kearns, B., Chapman, C., Hammond, J., Howell, A., Theibert, A. (2004) The Arf6 GAP centaurin alpha-1 is a neuronal actin binding Protein which also functions via GAP independent activity to regulate the actin cytoskeleton. Eur. J. Cell Biol., 10:541-555.
Rodgers, E.E. and Theibert, A.B. (2002) Function of PI 3-kinase in development of the nervous system. Int. J. Dev. Neurosci., 20:187-197.
Couchman, J.R., Vogt, S., Lim, S.-T., Oh, E.-S., Prestwich, G., Theibert, A., Lee, W., Woods, A. (2002) Regulation of inositol phospholipid binding and signaling through syndecan-4. J. Biol. Chem., 277:49296-49303.
Randazzo, P.A., Miura, K., Nie, Z., Orr, A., Theibert, A.B., Kearns, B.G. (2001) Cytohesins and centaurins: mediators of PI 3-kinase regulated Arf signaling. Trends Biochem. Sci., 26:220-221.
Dubois, T., Kerai, P., Zemlickova, E., Howell, S., Jackson, T.R., Venkateswarlu, K., Cullen, P.J., Theibert, A.B., Larose, L., Roach, P.J., Aitken, A. (2001) Casein kinase I associates with members of the centaurin-alpha family of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate-binding proteins. J. Biol. Chem., 276:18757-18764.
Created 1/5/2006 by Evette Mezger
Last modified 1/20/2006 by Evette Mezger
