Mark Rutherford, PhD

    The main goal of the Rutheford Lab is to discover therapies for hearing loss with a focus on presynaptic, postsynaptic, and spike generator mechanisms.  Current projects include: 1) studies of presynaptic transduction in cochlear hair cells (collaboration with Lingle); this project has identified the regulatory subunit required for voltage-gating of BK channels.  2) studies of noise-induced hearing loss with a focus on postsynaptic excitotoxicity of auditory nerve fibers via AMPA-type glutamate receptors; this project is determining the roles of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in sound encoding and synaptopathy.  3) studies of action potential generation; this project is determining the ion channels of spike generation at heminodes and nodes in auditory nerve fibers, and their influence on sound encoding.  We use a combination of anatomical and electrophysiological approaches in transgenic mice.