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More about
Dr. Rand:

Dr. Rand's CV in brief

Publications

Genetic Models of Disease Research Program

 

  

James B. Rand, Ph.D.
Member and Program Chair, Genetic Models of Disease Research Program
H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Chair in Medical Research
Adjunct Professor, Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health
  Sciences Center
Adjunct Professor, Oklahoma Center for Neuroscience

Research Interests
For a number of years, we have studied the mechanisms used within nerve terminals to coordinate neurotransmitter supply and release. In the simple, 302-cell nervous system of the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, we can apply powerful tools of genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology to analyze synaptic function and its regulation. One area of this research involves the molecular and genetic analysis of acetylcholine synthesis and packaging in C. elegans. These studies focus on three genes and proteins:

1) cha-1 the structural gene for choline acetyl­transferase, the enzyme that synthesizes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine; 2) unc-17, the gene that encodes the synaptic vesicle acetylcholine transporter; and 3) cho-1, which encodes the plasma membrane choline high-affinity transporter. The coordinated action of these three proteins is crucial for the rapid and precise regulation of cholinergic function in the nervous system. We have cloned and sequenced the genes required for these processes, identified the specific neurons in which these genes are expressed and studied mutants that are partially or totally deficient in these functions.

Related research projects include the genetic, behavioral and molecular analysis of genes encoding the large proteins that provide a "molecular scaffold" for the components of a presynaptic nerve terminal. These proteins not only organize and maintain the structure of the synapse, but they play essential roles in regulating and fine-tuning the synaptic machinery. In addition, we have recently begun to study the molecules involved in synapse formation and the use of C. elegans mutants with aberrant synapse formation as a model for the study of autism and autism spectrum disorders.

Joined OMRF Scientific Staff in 1989.

Mailing Address
Genetic Models of Disease Research Program, MS 48
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
825 N.E. 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104

Contact Information
Phone: (405) 271-7681
Fax: (405) 271-7312
E-mail: James-Rand@omrf.org