Kevin D. Phelan, Ph.D. - Faculty - Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences


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Kevin D. Phelan, Ph.D.
Title Associate Professor PhD Michigan State University Research Interests Regulation of Synaptic Transmission and Neuronal-Glial Interactions The physiology and pharmacology of normal synaptic transmission is studied as a basis for understanding dysfunction that may occur in various neurological diseases. State-of-the-art electrophysiological methodologies, including intracellular and patch clamp recording, are used to examine the mechanisms underlying synaptic transmission between developing and adult neurons in tissue culture and rodent brain slice models. Current areas of interest include: presynaptic and postsynaptic mechanisms of modulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic events; the contribution of intrinsic membrane properties and conductances to neuronal excitability; the functional role of MHC Class I molecules in the CNS; mechanisms of neurodegeneration; retinal degeneration in a mouse model of Niemann-Pick type C (a cholesterol storage defect disease); and neuronal-glial interactions. Email: phelankevind@uams.edu Address: Office: Biomedical Research Building II - Room 564-2 Mailing address: Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences - Slot 846, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., Little Rock, AR 72205 Lab phone: (501) 526-4587 Phone: (501) 686-8192 Fax: (501) 526-6756 PubMed

Selected Publications

1. Phelan, K.D. and H.R. Mahler. (1997) Acute exposure to 25-hydroxy-cholesterol selectively reduces GABAb and not GABAa receptor-mediated synaptic inhibition. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 237:68-73.

2. Phelan, K.D., J.Y. Chang and C.J.M. Kane. (1997) Transforming growth factor-Beta2 selectively alters the developmental expression of the fast transient A-current in cultured rat superior cervical ganglion neurons. Journal of Neuroscience Research 49:475-484.

3. Hayashi, T., B. Mendelson, K.D. Phelan, R.D. Skinner and E. Garcia-Rill. (1997) Developmental changes in serotonergic receptor-mediated modulation of embryonic chick motoneurons in vitro. Developmental Brain Research 102:21-33.

4. Phelan K.D. (1999) N-ethylmaleimide selectively blocks presynaptic GABA-B autoreceptor but not heteroreceptor mediated inhibition in adult rat striatal slices. Brain Res 847:308-313.

5. Davies, D.L., I. R. Niesman, F.A. Boop and K.D. Phelan. (2000) Heterogeneity of astrocytes cultured from adult human temporal lobe. Int. J. Dev. Neurosci.. 18:151-160.

6. Phelan, K.D. and B.W. Newton. (2000) Intracellular recording of lamina X neurons in a horizontal slice preparation of rat lumbar spinal cord .J. Neurosci. Methods 100:145-150.

7. Phelan K.D., Newton B.W. (2000) Sex differences in the response of rat lamina X neurons to exogenously applied galanin recorded in vitro. Dev Brain Res 122:157-163.

8. Chang, J.Y. and Phelan K.D. The effects of oxysterols on cells of the nervous system. In: Sterols and oxysterols: Chemistry, Biology, and Pathology (2002). page 175-200. Editor: S. J. Fliesler, Research Signpost, Kerala, India. The Effects of Oxysterols on Cells of the Nervous System

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