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Angus Nairn, PhD

Charles B. G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry
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About

Titles

Charles B. G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry

Biography

Angus Nairn did his undergraduate training in biochemistry at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland and his PhD in muscle biochemistry in the laboratory of Professor Sam Perry at Birmingham University, England. He then carried out postdoctoral research in molecular neuroscience with Professor Paul Greengard at Yale, and moved with Professor Greengard to Rockefeller University in 1983 as a faculty member. He moved back to Yale University in 2001, where he is currently the Charles B.G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry. He also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Pharmacology and is co-director of the Yale/National Institute of Drug Abuse Neuroproteomics Center at the Yale School of Medicine.

Appointments

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Fellow
Yale University (1983)
PhD
University of Birmingham (1979)

Research

Overview

Our discovery and characterization of striatal phosphoproteins controlled by dopamine, including DARPP-32, RCS, and ARPP-16, provides a rational approach to the elucidation of the molecular actions of dopamine. Our current studies focus on the biochemical characterization of DARPP-32 and its target, protein phosphatase-1, on RCS and the regulation of calmodulin-dependent signaling, and on ARPP-16 and its potential involvement in regulation of protein phosphatase 2A. In these studies we utilize we use biochemical, molecular, and cell biological methods to characterize the role of these proteins in signal transduction pathways in striatal neurons. In addition, we use mouse models where striatal phosphoproteins and their targets have been “knocked out” to investigate the functions of these dopamine-regulated pathways in a variety of behavioral paradigms.

cAMP-regulated signal transduction in striatal neurons.

Proteomics of specific neuronal populations.

Selective regulation of protein translation.

Medical Research Interests

Dopamine; Huntington Disease; Parkinson Disease; Protein Kinases; Psychiatry; Schizophrenia; Signal Transduction

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Angus Nairn's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Mailing Address

Psychiatry

300 George St

New Haven, CT 06511-

United States