Marieta Heaton, Ph.D.
Professor
Office Phone: (352) 392-1185
Lab Phone: (352) 392-3390
Email: heaton@ufl.edu
Education:
1972 Ph.D. (Psychology/Zoology) North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Research Summary:
Our research is focused on defining molecular mechanisms contributing to the devastating effects of exposure to alcohol during nervous system development, which can lead, in humans, to the fetal alcohol syndrome.
Key Words:
Developmental Neurobiology
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Apoptosis
Ethanol Neurotoxicity
Research Focus:
Exposure to alcohol during development of the nervous system leads to a wide array of structural and functional abnormalities. Such exposure can lead to the fetal alcohol syndrome in human children. Marieta Heaton studies the molecular mechanisms underlying this anomalous development, with the goal of eventually developing strategies for therapeutic intervention to prevent or lessen these effects. Of particular interest are ethanol-induced alterations in survival-regulatory proteins (e.g., those of the Bcl-2 gene family), neurotrophic factors (e.g., NGF, BDNF), and oxidative processes (e.g., reactive oxygen species [ROS]; antioxidants). These studies are carried out using fetal and neonatal rats, primary neuronal cultures, and transgenic and gene-deleted mice. Procedures in use include ELISA and Western blot protein assays, neuronal cell culture, immunohistochemistry, stereological histological quantification, and ROS/antioxidant assays.
Lab Members:
| Name: | Position: | Email: |
| Michael Paiva | Scientific Research Manager | paiva@ufl.edu |
| Eric Swanson | Student Assistant | eswanson@ufl.edu |
| Stacey Kubovec | Student Assistant | sak9@ufl.edu |
| Vladimir ‘Bobby’ Madorsky | Student Assistant | v.madorsky@ufl.edu |
| Bradley Hyman | Undergraduate | |
| Jonathan Rogozinski | Undergraduate | |
| Alexandra Kotler | Undergraduate | |
| Ekaterina Makovskaya | Undergraduate | |
| Emily Korszen | Undergraduate |
Recent or Most Significant Publications:
Heaton, M.B., Madorsky, I., Paiva, M. and Siler, K.I. (2004) Vitamin E amelioration of ethanol neurotoxicity involves modulation of apoptotis-related protein levels in neonatal rat cerebellar granule cells. Devel. Brain Res., 150, 117-124.
Heaton, M.B., Paiva, M., Madorsky, I. and Shaw, G. (2006) The effect of bax deletion on ethanol sensitivity in the neonatal rat cerebellum. J. Neurobiol., 66, 95-101.
Siler-Marsiglio, K.I., Madorsky, I., Pan, Q., Paiva, M., Neeley, A.W., Shaw, G. and Heaton, M.B. (2006) Effects of acute ethanol exposure on regulatory mechanisms of Bcl-2-associated apoptosis promoter, Bad, in neonatal rat cerebellum: Differential effects during vulnerable and resistant developmental periods. Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res., 30, 1031-1038.