Everything we do, think, and feel is a result of the electrical activity in the nervous system. In the Ransdell lab, we investigate how specific types of neurons generate and maintain this important electrical activity. To carry out these investigations, we utilize sophisticated electrophysiology, molecular genetic, computational, and behavioral techniques. We also use these strategies to determine how mutations that affect neuronal electrical activity manifest as neurological diseases. Our laboratory is housed on the second floor of Pearson Hall. Our most current work focuses on the intrinsic excitability of Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum, and how the impaired electrical activity in Purkinje neurons may drive behavioral phenotypes associated with autism spectrum disorder.
Selected Publications
Ransdell JL, Nerbonne JM (2018) Voltage-Gated Sodium Currents in Cerebellar Purkinje Neurons: Functional and Molecular Diversity (Review) Cell mol. Life sci. doi:10.1007/s00018-018-2868-y.
Ransdell JL, Dranoff E, Lau B, Lo WL, Donermeyer DL, Allen PM, Nerbonne JM (2017) Loss of Navβ4-Mediated Regulation of Sodium Currents in Adult Purkinje Neurons Disrupts Firing and Impairs Motor Coordination and Balance. Cell Reports. 19(3): 532-544
Lane BJ, Samarth P, Ransdell JL, Nair SS, Schulz DJ (2016) Synergistic plasticity of intrinsic conductance and electrical coupling restores synchrony in an intact motor network. Elife. 16879.
Bosch MK, Carrasquillo Y, Ransdell JL, Kanakamedala A, Ornitz DM, Nerbonne JM (2015) Intracellular FGF14 (iFGF14) Is Required for Spontaneous and Evoked Firing in Cerebellar Purkinje Neurons and for Motor Coordination and Balance. Journal of Neuroscience. 35(17): 6752-69.
Victor MB, Richner M, Hermanstyne TO, Ransdell JL, Sobieski C, Deng PY, Klyachko VA, Nerbonne JM, Yoo AS (2014) Generation of human striatal neurons by microRNA-dependent direct conversion of fibroblasts. Neuron. 84(2): 311-23.
Ransdell JL, Nair SS, Schulz DJ (2013) Neurons within the same network independently achieve conserved output by differentially balancing variable conductance magnitudes. Journal of Neuroscience. 33(24): 9950-6.
Ransdell JL, Temporal S, West NL, Schulz DJ (2013) Characterization of inward currents and channels underlying burst activity in motor neurons of the crab cardiac ganglion. Journal of Neurophysiology. 110(1): 42-54
Ransdell JL, Nair SS, Schulz DJ (2012) Rapid Homeostatic Plasticity of Intrinsic Excitability in a Central Pattern Generator Network Stabilizes Functional Neural Network Output. Journal of Neuroscience. 32(28): 9649-58
Ransdell JL, Faust TB, Schulz DJ (2010) Correlated Levels of mRNA and Soma Size in Single Identified Neurons: Evidence for Compartment-specific Regulation of Gene Expression. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience 3:116.
