SHANNON G. MATTA, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Pharmacology

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Address

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

100c Crowe Research Building

874 Union Avenue

Memphis, TN 38163

Tel: (901) 448-2874; Fax: (901) 448-7300;

Education

Ph.D. Institution: University of Minnesota, Department of Anatomy

Postdoctoral: Rutgers Medical School, Department of Anatomy

Research Interests

Nicotine is known to have multiple effects on neuroendocrine, autonomic and behavioral responses - these are the research foci of this lab. Investigations into neuroendocrine effect(s) focus on nicotine's actions on the stress-responsive systems of the brain, both the classical hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, as well as extrahypothalamic regions modifying this axis (e.g., amygdala, hippocampus). Brainstem catecholaminergic regions projecting to these forebrain structures comprise the second area of emphasis. These studies use in vivo micro-dialysis for real-time measurement of the secretion of monoamines (norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin) and excitatory/inhibitory amino acids (glutamine, glycine, GABA) from specific brain regions in response to nicotine, other agonists, and antagonists. Finally, they recently developed a novel self-administration animal (rat) model for nicotine exposure that more closely approximates human nicotine consumption - i.e., exposure is truly chronic, intermittent and motivated. This behavioral model is the underpinning to studies designed 1) to determine individual sensitivity to drug-taking behavior, 2) to elucidate the mechanism(s) by which nicotine (like cocaine, amphetamine and other drugs of abuse) activates and maintains the reward neurocircuitry, leading to addiction, and 3) to investigate the (anecdotal) property of nicotine in alleviating anxiety and stress. Drug-induced neuronal plasticity, as indicated by alterations in gene expression in relevant brain regions after such chronic nicotine exposure, also is under investigation. Neuro-pharmacologic studies are integrated with neuroanatomic methods to identify the neuronal pathways activated by nicotine and to characterize the specific nicotinic cholinergic receptor subtypes involved, both at pre- and post-synaptic sites. Primary methodologies include stereotaxic neurosurgery, vascular cannulation, HPLC with electrochemical detection, radioimmunoassay, immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization, and image analysis.

Links

Pharmacology - Shannon G. Matta

Recent Publications

• Matta SG, Caldas-Bussiere MC, Viana KS, Faes MR, Paes de Carvalho CS, Dias BL, Quirino CR. Effect of inhibition of synthesis of inducible nitric oxide synthase-derived nitric oxide by aminoguanidine on the in vitro maturation of oocyte-cumulus complexes of cattle. Anim Reprod Sci. 2008 Mar 26; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18439771
• Yu G, Chen H, Zhao W, Matta SG, Sharp BM. Nicotine self-administration differentially regulates hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor and arginine vasopressin mRNAs and facilitates stress-induced neuronal activation. J Neurosci. 2008 Mar 12;28(11):2773-82. PMID: 18337407
• Zhou FW, Matta SG, Zhou FM. Constitutively active TRPC3 channels regulate basal ganglia output neurons. J Neurosci. 2008 Jan 9;28(2):473-82. PMID: 18184790
• Matta SG, Elberger AJ. Combined exposure to nicotine and ethanol throughout full gestation results in enhanced acquisition of nicotine self-administration in young adult rat offspring. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Aug;193(2):199-213. Epub 2007 Apr 3. PMID: 17404712
• Viana KS, Caldas-Bussiere MC, Matta SG, Faes MR, de Carvalho CS, Quirino CR. Effect of sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor, on the in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes. Anim Reprod Sci. 2007 Dec;102(3-4):217-27. Epub 2006 Nov 15. PMID: 17145142
• Matta SG, Balfour DJ, Benowitz NL, Boyd RT, Buccafusco JJ, Caggiula AR, Craig CR, Collins AC, Damaj MI, Donny EC, Gardiner PS, Grady SR, Heberlein U, Leonard SS, Levin ED, Lukas RJ, Markou A, Marks MJ, McCallum SE, Parameswaran N, Perkins KA, Picciotto MR, Quik M, Rose JE, Rothenfluh A, Schafer WR, Stolerman IP, Tyndale RF, Wehner JM, Zirger JM. Guidelines on nicotine dose selection for in vivo research. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2007 Feb;190(3):269-319. Epub 2006 Aug 9. Review. PMID: 16896961

view complete list of references (pubmed link)