Ellen
A. Lumpkin, Ph.D. |
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Assistant Professor, Departments of Neuroscience, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Molecular and Human Genetics
B.S., Texas Tech University, 1991
Ph.D., UT Southwestern, 1998
Ph.D. student, The Rockefeller University, 1995 – 1998
Postdoctoral fellow, University of Washington, 1998 – 2000
UCSF Fellow, University of California, San Francisco, 2001 – 2005
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
The goal of our research is to understand how cells respond to mechanical forces. In humans and other vertebrates, a startling diversity of mechanosenstive cells initiate the senses of touch, pain and hearing, and modulate essential physiological functions such as blood-pressure regulation bladder function and bone mineralization. We use techniques of cellular physiology, microscopy and molecular genetics to discover how these different types of cells create molecular force sensors.
Somatosensory neurons innervate the body and are responsible for our perception of touch, pain, and proprioception (the awareness of our limb position that is necessary for coordinated movements such as walking). These senses are essential for survival because they allow an animal to constantly monitor its surroundings so that it can react quickly to changing situations. Their importance to human health is underscored by diseases, such as diabetes and AIDS, that cause the death of somatosensory neurons. Patients with these diseases cannot feel injuries, thus, even minor insults can lead to permanent tissue damage.
Because vertebrate somatosensory receptors are quite diverse and are scattered throughout the body, studying their mechanisms of mechanotransduction is technically challenging. As a result, we know almost nothing about how somatosensory neurons detect and respond to mechanical stimulation. To overcome these difficulties, my laboratory uses in vitro systems for studying transduction in touch and pain receptors. One focus is the Merkel cell-neurite complex, a very sensitive type of vertebrate touch receptor that we can identify in living preparations. We use biophysical techniques to directly observe how individual, living touch receptors respond to skin pressure. We also employ molecular approaches and mouse genetics to identify molecules that allow mechanoreceptor cells to function.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
1. Haeberle H, Bryan LA, Vadakkan TJ, Dickinson ME, Lumpkin EA (2008). Swelling-activated Ca2+ channels trigger Ca2+ signals in Merkel cells. PLoS ONE 3: e1750.
2. Piskorowski R, Haeberle H, Panditrao MV, Lumpkin EA (2008). Voltage-activated ion channels and Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release shape Ca2+ signaling in Merkel cells. Pflugers Arch. Apr 16. [Epub ahead of print]
3. Haeberle H, Lumpkin EA (2008). Merkel cells in somatosensation. Chemosensory Perception, in press.
4. Lumpkin EA, Caterina MJ (2007). Mechanisms of sensory transduction in the skin. Nature 445: 858-865.
5. Siemens J, Zhou S, Piskorowski R, Nikai T, Lumpkin EA, Basbaum AI, King D, Julius D (2006). Spider toxins activate the capsaicin receptor to produce inflammatory pain. Nature 444: 208-212.
6. Lumpkin EA, Bautista DM (2005). Feeling the pressure in mammalian somatosensation. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 15: 382-388.
7. Haeberle H, Fujiwara M, Chuang J, Medina MM, Panditrao MV, Bechstedt S, Howard J, Lumpkin EA (2004). Molecular profiling reveals synaptic release machinery in Merkel cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 14503-14508.
8. Lumpkin EA, Hudspeth AJ (1998). Free Ca2+ concentration is tightly regulated in hair-cell stereocilia. J. Neurosci. 18: 6300-6318.
9. Lumpkin EA, Hudspeth AJ (1995). Detection of Ca2+ entry through mechanosensitive channels localizes the site of mechanoelectrical transduction in hair cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 10297-10301.
For more publications, see listing on Pub Med.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Ellen A. Lumpkin, Ph.D.
Baylor College of Medicine
One Baylor Plaza, Rm S636A
Houston, TX 77030, U.S.A.
Phone: 713-798-3418
Fax: 713-798-3946
E-mail: