KAREN S. WILCOX
e-mail: karen.wilcox@hsc.utah.edu |
Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology Cellular Neuroscience Neurobiology of Disease |
RESEARCH:
Electrophysiological mechanisms of action of novel anticonvulsant drugs
Dr. Wilcox is a co-investigator in the NIH sponsored Anticonvulsant Drug Development Program and her participation in the program is focussed on identifying the electrophysiological mechanisms of action of novel anticonvulsant drugs. In addition, much of her research is devoted to understanding the processes underlying short-term synaptic plasticity at excitatory and inhibitory synapses between cortical neurons, both in tissue culture and the acute brain slice preparation. She also uses a variety of techniques to understand how the subunit stoichiometry of ligand-gated ion channels is regulated at the synapse, both developmentally and in response to injury, and studies how the assembly of ligand-gated ion channel subunits influences synaptic pharmacology and physiology. Experimental methods used in the laboratory include the whole cell patch clamp technique, immunocytochemistry with receptor-subunit selective antibodies. It is hoped that these studies will lead to a greater understanding of how seizures are generated and propagated throughout the brain.
Selected Publications:
Takahashi, D.K., Vargas, J.R., and Wilcox, K.S. Increased coupling and altered glutamate transport currents in astrocytes following kainic-acid-induced status epilepticus. Neurobiol of Dis, in press.
Stewart, K.A., Wilcox, K.S., Fujinami, R.S., and White HS. Theiler's virus infection chronically alters seizure susceptibility. Epilepsia, in press.
Libbey, J.E., Kirkman, N.J., Wilcox, K.S., White, H.S., and Fujinami, R.S. (2010) Role for complement in the development of seizures following acute viral infection. J Virol, Jul;84(13):6452-6460.
Otto, J.F., Singh, N.A., Dahle, E.J., Leppert, M.F., Pappas, C.M., Pruess, T.H., Wilcox, K.S., and White, H.S. (2009) Electroconvulsive Seizure Thresholds and Kindling Acquisition Rates are Altered in Mouse Models of Human KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 Mutations for Benign Familial Neonatal Convulsions. Epilepsia, 50(7):1752-1759.
Smeal, R.M., Keefe, K.A., and Wilcox, K.S. (2008) Differences in excitatory transmission between thalamic and cortical afferents to single spiny efferent neurons of dorsal striatum. Eur. J. Neurosci., 28(10):2041-2052.
Singh, N.A., Otto, J.F., Jill Dahle, E., Pappas, C., Leslie, J.D., Vilaythong, A., Noebels, J.L., White, H.S., Wilcox, K.S., and Leppert, M.F. (2008) Mouse models of human KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 mutations for benign familial neonatal convulsions show seizures and neuronal plasticity without synaptic reorganization. J Physiol., Jul 15;586(Pt 14):3405-3423. Epub 2008 May 15.
Libbey, J.E., Kirkman, N.J., Smith, M.C., Tanaka, T., Wilcox, K.S., White, H.S., and Fujinami, R.S. (2008) Seizures following picornavirus infection. Epilepsia, Jun;49(6):1066-74. Epub 2008 Mar 6. PMID: 18325012 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
White, H.S., Smith, M.D., and Wilcox, K.S. (2007) Mechanisms of action of antiepileptic drugs. Int Rev Neurobiol, 81:85-110.
Smith, M.D., Adams, A.C., Saunders, G.W., White, H.S., and Wilcox, K.S. (2007) Phenytoin- and carbamazepine-resistant spontaneous bursting in rat entorhinal cortex is blocked by retigabine in vitro. Epilepsy Res, May;74(2-3):97-106.
West, P.J., Dalpe-Charron, A., and Wilcox, K.S. (2007) Differential contribution of kainate receptors to excitatory postsynaptic currents in superficial layer neurons of the rat medial entorhinal cortex. Neuroscience, 146(3):1000-1012.
Smeal, R.M., Gaspar, R.C., Keefe, K.A., and Wilcox, K.S. (2007) A rat brain slice preparation for characterizing both thalamostriatal and corticostriatal afferents. J Neurosci Methods, Jan 30;159(2):224-35. Epub 2006 Aug 8.
Alex, A.B., Baucum, A.J., and Wilcox, K.S. (2006) Effect of Conantokin G on NMDA receptor-mediated spontaneous EPSCs in cultured cortical neurons. J. Neurophys., Sep;96(3):1084-1092.
Simeone, T.A., Wilcox, K.S., and White, H.S. (2006) Subunit selectivity of topiramate modulation of heteromeric GABAA receptors. Neuropharm., 50(7):845-857.
Otto, J.F., Yang, Y., Frankel, W.N., White, H.S., and Wilcox, K.S. (2006) A Spontaneous Mutation Involving Kcnq2 (Kv7.2) Reduces M Current Density and Spike Frequency Adaptation in Mouse CA1 Neurons. J. Neurosci., 26(7):2053-2059.
Otto, J.F., Yang, Y., Frankel, W.N., Wilcox, K.S., and White, H.S. (2004) Mice carrying the szt1 mutation exhibit increased seizure susceptibility and altered sensitivity to compounds acting at the m-channel. Epilepsia, Sep;45(9):1009-1016.
Barton, M.E., White, H.S., and Wilcox, K.S. (2004) The effect of CGX-1007 and CI-1041, novel NMDA receptor antagonists, on NMDA receptor-mediated EPSCs. Epilepsy Res., Mar;59(1):13-24.
Kaplan, M.P., Wilcox, K.S., and Dichter, M.A. (2003) Differences in multiple forms of short-term plasticity between excitatory and inhibitory hippocampal neurons in culture. Synapse, Oct;50(1):41-52.
Aaron, G.B., Wilcox, K.S., and Dichter, M.A. (2003) Different Patterns of Synaptic Transmission Revealed Between Distinct Classes of CA3 Hippocampal Interneurons and Their Pyramidal Cell Targets. Neuroscience 117:169-181.
Chapman, D.E., Keefe, K.A., and Wilcox, K.S. (2003) Electrophysiological Evidence for Functionally Distinct NMDA Receptors in Medial versus Lateral Striatum. J. Neurophys., 89:69-80.
Otto, J.F., Kimball, M., and Wilcox, K.S. (2002) Effects of the Anticonvulsant Retigabine on Cultured Cortical Neurons: Changes in Electroresponsive Properties and Synaptic Transmission. Molecular Pharmacology 61:921-927.
