Professor
Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1987
Office Phone: 530-754-6075
Email: jtrimmer@ucdavis.edu

Research Interests:
Ion channel signaling complexes in mammalian neurons

Research Synopsis:
As neuroscience enters the post-genomic era, a major goal is the translation of genomic sequence information into a molecular understanding of the mechanisms of neuronal information processing and transfer. Our research focuses on protein function, biochemical pathways and networks of protein-protein interactions regulating mammalian neuronal signaling. In particular, we are interested in the molecular characteristics of signaling complexes containing voltage-sensitive ion channels, proteins which determine the intrinsic electrical properties of neurons and how these cells respond to external stimuli, integrate the encoded information and generate an appropriate response. Our studies are aimed at a molecular understanding of how these important signaling molecules generate and maintain the fidelity of neuronal signaling, and how these processes can be dynamically regulated to generate phenotypic plasticity. Such information is necessary for an understanding of not only the normal function of neurons, but also in understanding disease states where excitability is altered, such as epilepsy and peripheral demyelinating disorders (e.g. multiple sclerosis). Characterization of native ion channels and associated interacting proteins as potential drug targets for these diseases, for neurodegenerative disorders where restoration of function may come from modulation of ion channel function in surviving neurons, and for other disorders of the nervous system remains an important facet of our analyses. Moreover, these studies are representative of approaches that would prove advantageous to future studies on other neuronal signaling complexes.

Rhodes, K. J., and J. S. Trimmer. (2004). Localization of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels in Mammalian Brain. Annu. Rev. Physiol. 66:477-519. Abstract.

Shibasaki, K., Nakahira, K., Trimmer, J. S., Shibata, R., Akita, M., Watanabe, S.-I., and K. Ikenaka.  (2004). Mossy Fiber Contact Triggers the Targeting of Kv4.2 Potassium Channels to Dendrites and Synapses in Developing Cerebellar Granule Neurons. J. Neurochem. 89:897-907. Abstract.

Misonou, H., Mohapatra, D. P., Park, E. W., Leung, V., Zhen, D., Misono, K., Anderson, A. E., and J. S. Trimmer. (2004). Regulation of Ion Channel Localization and Phosphorylation by Neuronal Activity.  Nature Neurosci. 7: 711-718. Abstract.

Manganas, L. N., and J. S. Trimmer. (2004). Calnexin Regulates Mammalian Kv1 Channel Trafficking.  Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 322:577-584. Abstract.

Misonou, H. and J. S. Trimmer.  (2004). Determinants of Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel Surface Expression and Localization in Mammalian Neurons.  Crit. Rev. Biochem. Mol. Biol. 39:125-145. Abstract.

Rhodes, K. J., Carroll, K. I., Sung, M. A., Doliveira, L. C., Monaghan, M. M., Burke, S. L., Strassle, B. W., Buchwalder,  L., Menegola, M., Cao, J., An, W. F., and J. S. Trimmer.  (2004). KChIPs and Kv4 Alpha Subunits as Integral Components of A-type Potassium Channels in Mammalian Brain. J. Neurosci. 24:7903-7915. Abstract.

Trimmer, J. S. (2004) Peering into the Birth Canal during Ion Channel Parturition.  Neuron 44:214-216. Abstract.

Pyott, S. J., Glowatzki, E., Trimmer, J. S., and R. W. Aldrich. (2004) Extrasynaptic Localization of Inactivating Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels in Mouse Inner Hair Cells.  J. Neurosci. 24:9469-9474. Abstract.

Strassle, B. W., Menegola, M., Rhodes, K. J.,  and J. S. Trimmer.  (2005). Light and Electron Microscopic Analysis of KChIP and Kv4 Localization in Rat Cerebellar Granule Cells. J. Comp. Neurol. 484:144-155. Abstract.

Meyer, M. P., Trimmer, J. S., Gilthorpe, J. D., and S. J. Smith.  (2005). Characterization of Zebrafish PSD-95 Gene Family Members.  J. Neurobiol. 63:91-105. Abstract.

Van Wart, A., Boiko, T., Trimmer, J. S., and G. Matthews.  (2005). Novel Clustering of Sodium Channel Nav1.1 with Ankyrin-G and Neurofascin at Discrete Sites in the Inner Plexiform Layer of the Retina.  Mol. Cell. Neurosci. 28: 661-673.  Abstract.

Misonou, H. and J. S. Trimmer.  (2005).  A Primary Culture System for Biochemical Analyses of Neuronal Proteins.  J. Neurosci. Methods 144:165-173. Abstract.

Misonou, H.,  Mohapatra, D. P., and J. S. Trimmer.  (2005).  Kv2.1: A Voltage-Gated K(+) Channel Critical to Dynamic Control of Neuronal Excitability.  Neurotoxicology 26:743-752. Abstract.

Misonou, H.,  Mohapatra, D. P., Menegola, M., and J. S. Trimmer.  (2005). Calcium- and Metabolic State-Dependent Modulation of the Voltage-Dependent Kv2.1 Channel Regulates Neuronal Excitability in Response to Ischemia.  J. Neurosci. 25:11184-11193. Abstract.

Mohapatra, D. P., and J. S. Trimmer. (2006). The Kv2.1 C-Terminus Can Autonomously Transfer Kv2.1-Like Phosphorylation-Dependent Localization, Voltage-Dependent Gating and Muscarinic Modulation to Diverse Kv Channels.  J. Neurosci. 26:685-695. Abstract.

Misonou, H., Menegola, M., Buchwalder, L., Park, E. W., Meredith, A., Rhodes, K. J., Aldrich, R. W., and J. S. Trimmer.  (2006). Immunolocalization of the Ca2+-activated K+ Channel Slo1 in Axons and Nerve Terminals of Mammalian Brain and Cultured Neurons.  J. Comp. Neurol. 496:289-302. Abstract.

Rasband, M. N., and J. S. Trimmer. (2006). Voltage-gated Potassium Channels in Sensory Neurons (Chapter 11, pp. 323-352).  In The Nociceptive Membrane (U. Oh, ed.)  Academic Press, San Diego.