Faculty Profile

Marie Burns
Associate Professor
Ophthalmology (School of Medicine)
Center for Neuroscience
1515 Newton Ct., Rm 604C
Office 530-754-7164
Lab 530-754-7382
meburns@ucdavis.edu
http://burnsxs.ucdavis.edu
[Picture of Marie Burns]

Degrees:
1996 - PhD - Duke University - Neurobiology
1992 - BS - Susquehanna University - Biochemistry

Awards:
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow
E. Matilda Ziegler Foundation Award
Cogan Award (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology)

Department and Center Affiliations:
Center for Neuroscience
Center for Visual Sciences

Professional Societies:
Society for Neuroscience
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Biophysical Society

Grad Group Affiliations and Specialties:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Neuroscience

Publications:
Krispel, C.M., Chen, C.-K., Simon, M.I. and Burns, M.E. Novel form of adaptation in mouse rod photoreceptors speeds recovery of phototransduction. (2003). J. Gen. Physiol. 122, 703-712.

Keresztes, G., Martemyanov, K.A., Krispel, C.M., Mutai, H., Yoo, P.J., Maison, S.F., Burns, M.E., Arshavsky, V.Y., and Heller, S. (2004). Absence of the RGS9/Gb5 GTPase activating complex in photoreceptors of the R9AP knockout mouse. J. Biol. Chem. 279, 1581-1584.

Makino, C.L., Dodd, R.L., Chen, J., Burns, M.E., Roca, A., Simon, M.I. and Baylor, D.A. Recoverin regulates light-dependent phosphodiesterase activity in retinal rods. (2004). J. Gen. Physiol. 123, 729-741.

Burns, M.E. and Arshavsky, V.Y. (2005). Beyond counting photons: Trials and trends in Vertebrate Phototransduction. Neuron, 48, 387-401.

Burns, M.E., Mendez, A., Chen, C.-K., Almuete, A., Quillinan, N., Simon, M.I., Baylor, D.A., and Chen, J. (2006). Deactivation of phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated rhodopsin by arrestin splice variants. J. Neurosci., 26, 1036-1044.

Moussaif, M., Rubin, W.W., Kerov, V., Reh, R., Chen, D., Chen, C.-K., Hurley, J.B., Burns, M.E. and Artemyev, N.O. (2006). Phototransduction in a transgenic mouse model of Nougaret night blindness. J. Neurosci. 26, 6863-6872.

Krispel, C.K., Chen, D., Chen, Y-J., Melling, N., Martemyanov, K.A., Quillinan, N., Arshavsky, V.Y., Wensel, T.G., Chen, C.-K., and Burns, M.E. (2006). RGS expression rate-limits recovery of rod photoresponses. Neuron 51, 409-416.

Krispel, C.M., Sokolov, M., Chen, Y.-M., Song, H., Herrmann, R., Arshavsky, V.Y. and Burns, M.E. (2007). Phosducin regulates the expression of transducin betagamma subunits in rod photoreceptors and does not contribute to phototransduction adaptation. J. Gen. Physiol. 130, 303-312.

Kerov, V., Rubin, W.W., Natochin, M., Melling, N.A., Burns, M.E. and Artemyev, N.O. (2007). N-terminal fatty acylation of transducin profoundly influences its localization and the kinetics of photoresponse in rods. J. Neurosci. 27, 10270-7.

Lobanova, E.S., Finkelstein, S., Herrmann, R., Chen, Y.-M., Kessler, C., Michaud, N.A., Trieu, L.H., Strissel, K.J., Burns, M.E. and Arshavsky, V.Y. (2008). Knockout of rod transducin gamma subunit leads to drastic down-regulation of transducin alpha and beta subunits and progressive photoreceptor loss. J. Neurosci. 28, 3510-20.

Research Interests:
Our laboratory is interested in how the duration of intracellular signaling is controlled in neurons. Our model system is the mammalian retinal photoreceptor cell which signals the presence of light using a G protein cascade that results in a reduction of the cell's inward current. As long as the cascade remains activated, the light response persists, making deactivation essential for maintaining both the sensitivity and temporal resolution of vision. To study deactivation mechanisms, we use suction electrodes to record from intact photoreceptors in which the functions of various proteins have been specifically perturbed using gene-targeting techniques. The electrical recording allows us to analyze the cell's responses to flashes or steps of light quantitatively and in real time. From the changes in inward current, we can infer a great deal about the rates of the reactions that underly both the activation and deactivation of the response elicited from a single activated rhodopsin molecule.

Laboratory Personnel:
Med Neurosci, 1515 Newton Court, Rm 605 - Jim Long, Neuroscience Graduate Student; Owen Gross, Physics Graduate Student; Christopher Kessler, Sr Research Associate; Nathan Melling, Jr Specialist

Teaching Interests:


Cellular neurophysiology; signal transduction mechanisms

Courses Taught:
NPB/NSC160
HPH400
NSC 222 Cellular Neuroscience