After completing undergraduate work in Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Michael Kavanaugh received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from OHSU in 1987. He pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the Vollum Institute and joined the Vollum faculty in 1993. Kavanaugh joined the University of Montana in January 2003. Mike was promoted to CSFN Director in April 2008.

_______________________________________________________________
INTERESTS OF THE KAVANAUGH LABORATORY

Research in the Kavanaugh laboratory focuses on neurotransmitter transporters, membrane proteins involved in reuptake and signaling in neurons. We integrate electrophysiological and molecular biological approaches in this work. Transporters and channels are studied using techniques including voltage-clamp recording, radiotracer flux measurement, and fluorescent labeling. The behavior of these molecules is studied in heterologous expression systems as well as native tissues including brain slice and cultured neurons and astrocytes.

Understanding the biophysical properties of neurotransmitter transporters is necessary for understanding their physiological roles. In the brain, transporters mediate the reuptake of neurotransmitter after its release from the presynaptic terminal. We are particularly interested in the structural and functional properties of transporters for glutamate, the major central nervous system excitatory neurotransmitter. We are investigating the molecular mechanisms involved in translocating glutamate across the cell membrane by studying ion fluxes and the effects of mutations on transport properties. We are also applying new fluorescent techniques to the study of transporter function. Studies of other transport systems involved in CNS function are also ongoing and include transporters for glutamine and monoamines.

_______________________________________________________________
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Kavanaugh, M.P. (2004) Accessing a transporter structure. Nature 431:752-3.

Larsson, H.P., Tzingounis, A.V., Koch, H.P., and Kavanaugh, M.P. (2004) Fluorometric measurements of conformational changes in glutamate transporters. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.,101:3951-56

Chaudhry FA, Schmitz D, Reimer RJ, Larsson P, Gray AT, Nicoll R, Kavanaugh M, Edwards RH. (2002) Glutamine uptake by neurons: interaction of protons with system A transporters. J Neurosci. 22 62-72.

Otis, T.S. and Kavanaugh, M.P. (2000) Isolation of current components and partial reaction cycles in the glial glutamate transporter EAAT2. J. Neurosci. 20:2749-57.

Otis TS and Kavanaugh MP. (1999) Glutamate transporters and their contributions to excitatory synaptic transmission. Handbook of Exp. Pharmacol. 141:419-440.

Eliasof S, Arriza JL, Leighton BH, Amara SG, Kavanaugh MP. (1998) Localization and function of five glutamate transporters cloned from the salamander retina. Vision Res. 38 1443-54.

Tzingounis AV, Lin CL, Rothstein JD, and Kavanaugh MP. (1998) Arachidonic acid activates a proton current in the rat glutamate transporter EAAT4. J. Biol. Chem. 273: 17315-17357.

Kavanaugh MP. (1998) Neurotransmitter transport: models in flux. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 95 12737-8.

Wadiche JI and Kavanaugh MP. (1998) Macroscopic and microscopic properties of a cloned glutamate transporter/chloride channel. J. Neurosci. 18:7650-7661.

Otis TS, Kavanaugh MP, Jahr CE. (1997) Postsynaptic glutamate transport at the climbing fiber-Purkinje cell synapse. Science. 277 1515-8.

Zerangue N, Kavanaugh MP. (1996) Flux coupling in a neuronal glutamate transporter. Nature. 383 634-7.