Robert Sapolsky
Title
Professor
Department
Biological Sciences
Research Interests
Mechanisms of neuron death; role of stress hormones in neuron death; gene therapy strategies for protecting neurons following neurologic insults.
Phone
723-2649
Fax
723-6132
Address
Gilbert Hall
Mail Code: 5020
Faculty Research Description
Robert Sapolsky's laboratory focuses on three issues: a) how a neuron dies during aging or following various neurological insults; b) how such neuron death can be accelerated by stress; c) the design of gene therapy strategies to protect endangered neurons from neurological disease. The Sapolsky laboratory was among the first to document that sustained stress can damage the hippocampus, a region of the brain central to learning and memory. Their work has pinpointed glucocorticoids, a class of steroid hormones secreted from the adrenal gland during stress, as critical to such neurotoxicity. Moreover, they were the first to demonstrate that glucocorticoids will
impair the capacity of hippocampal neurons to survive a variety of neurological diseases, including stroke and seizure. A major focus of the laboratory is to examine the cellular and molecular events underlying hippocampal neuron death, and to identify the components of such death worsened by glucocorticoids.
In addition, the Sapolsky laboratory utilizes gene transfer techniques to try to import genes into hippocampal neurons, both in vivo and in vitro, in order to confer resistance to such neurological diseases. The transfer is accomplished with the use of herpes virus and adenoviral vectors, and such approaches are designed with the hope of eventual clinical applicability. Finally, for three months each year, Professor Sapolsky studies wild baboons in the Serengeti of East Africa. He examines what a baboon's dominance rank, social behavior, and personality have to do with patterns of stress-related diseases. Why do some bodies and some psyches deal with stress better than others?
Meier, T., D. Ho, R. Sapolsky. 1997 Increased expression of calbidin D28K via herpes simplex virus
amplicon vector decreases calcium ion mobilization and enhances neuronal survival following
hypoglycemic challenge. J. Neurochem 69:1039.
Sapolsky, R. 1997. 'The Trouble With Testosterone' and Other Essays on the Biology of the Human
Predicament. Scribner.
Brooke, S., R. Chan, S. Howard, R. Sapolsky. 1997. Endocrine modulation of the neurotoxicity of
gp120: Implications for AIDS-related dementia complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:9457.
Sapolsky R, Romero M, Munck A 2000 How do glucocorticoids influence the stress-response?
Integrating permissive, suppressive, stimulatory, and preparative actions. Endocrine Reviews, 21,
55.
Sapolsky R, Steinberg G 1999 Gene therapy for acute neurological insults. Neurology, 10, 1922.
Areas of Study
Systems/Behavioral Neuroscience
Cellular Neurobiology
Molecular Neurobiology
SBRC
Ph.D.