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Synaptic Communication and Anesthetics
Dr. Dilger received his PhD in Biophysics from Stony Brook University. Under the mentorship of Stuart McLaughlin, he investigated the transport of protons across lipid bilayers by weak acids. He did postdoctoral research with Denis Haydon at Cambridge University where he investigated the thickness of lipid bilayers and the effects of anesthetics on membrane thickness. He then returned to Stony Brook as a postdoc in Paul Adams lab where he learned the patch clamp technique.The research in Dr. James P. Dilger's lab is focused on the mechanisms by which anesthetics and other drugs interact with synaptic ion channels. General anesthetics such as propofol and isoflurane potentiate inhibitory synaptic channels such as the strychnine-sensitive glycine receptor. Dr. Dilger uses patch clamp electrophysiological techniques to record the currents that flow through ion channels in the cell membrane. His lab pioneered the development of methods for rapid (less than 1 millisecond) concentration jumps that mimic conditions at a fast synapse. Recently, he has become interested in clustering of glycine receptors. In a collaboration with Mario Rebecchi, he is using fluorescently labeled receptors to measure fluctuations in light intensity to infer the clustering stoichiometry of the receptors under different conditions.
Another area of interest is computer modeling of synapses. Dr. Dilger has used this to better understand the onset rate of neuromuscular blocking drugs and has obtained support of the buffered diffusion hypothesis. Recently, he has begun a collaboration with Martin Kaczocha to elucidate the role of fatty acid binding proteins as transporters of 2-AG across synapses.
People
Collaborators
Publications
PubMed Search Selected Publications • Liu M, Dilger JP. Site selectivity of competitive antagonists for the mouse adult muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Mol Pharmacol. 2009 Jan;75(1):166-73. [PubMed] • Dilger JP. Monte Carlo simulation of buffered diffusion into and out of a model synapse. Biophys J. 2010 Mar 17;98(6):959-967 [PubMed] • Dilger JP. Simulation of the kinetics of neuromuscular block: Implications for speed of onset. Anesth Analg. 2013 Oct;117(4):792-802. [PubMed] • Muller J, Pentyala S, Dilger J, Pentyala S. Ketamine enantiomers in the rapid and sustained antidepressant effects. Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2016 Mar 10;6(2):1-8 • Leng T, Gao X, Dilger JP, Lin J. Neuroprotective effect of lidocaine: is there clinical potential? Int J Physiol Pathophysiol Pharmacol. 2016 Apr 25;8(1):9-13 [PubMed] • Pentyala S, Dilger JP, Rebecchi M. Minority Students and STEM Careers: Will Mentoring Help? J Health Edu Res Dev 2016 4:175 Recent Presentations • Khan N, Zheng G, Dilger JP. Volatile anesthetics suppress desensitization of α1 and α1β glycine receptor currents. 9th International Conference on Mechanisms of Anesthesia, June 2015 • Groeneveld K, Dilger JP, Urban BW. Single channel characterization of human 5-HT3A QDA receptors. 9th International Conference on Mechanisms of Anesthesia, June 2015 • Groeneveld K, Dilger JP, Urban BW. Effects of phenol on single channel characteristics of human 5-HT3A QDA receptors. 9th International Conference on Mechanisms of Anesthesia, June 2015 • Chakraborty S, Xiao C, Dilger JP, Lin J. Lidocaine alters migration and TRPM7 channel expression of human A549 lung cancer cells. IARS 2016 • Xiao C, Dilger JP, Lin J. Inhibition of breast cancer cells by local anesthetics. IARS 2016 • Holiprosad D, Etwaru K, Xiao C, Dilger JP, Lin J. Inhibition of TRPM7 channels in HEK-293 cells by local anesthetics. IARS 2016 • Xiao C, Chakraborty S, Dilger JP, Lin J. Local anesthetics inhibited breast cancer cell growth. IARS 2016 Contact
James P. Dilger, PhD.Department of Anesthesiology Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11794-8480 Phone: 631-444-3458 Fax: 631-444-2907 | ||||||||||||||||||||
