Steven A. Thomas, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pharmacology
Member, Graduate Group in Pharmacological 
Sciences
Member, Neuroscience Graduate Group
Department of Pharmacology
103 John Morgan Building
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
3620 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6084
Telephone: 215-573-4950
Fax: 215-573-2236
Email: thomas@pharm.med.upenn.edu
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Department of Pharmacology
Steven A. Thomas, M.D., Ph.D.
Education:
| 1991 | M.D., Ph.D. (Neuroscience) | University of Michigan |
Broadly, the lab studies the development and physiology of the mammalian brain. One goal is to define the systems that contribute to specific behaviors, and to understand the mechanisms that underlie these behaviors. Such knowledge will ultimately permit the prevention and treatment of mental illness. Recent advances in transgenic technology allow the analysis of specific genetic alterations in the context of the whole organism. The ability to add, delete or modify genes is particularly useful in the analysis of complex organ systems such as the brain, where half of all genes are thought to be uniquely expressed.
The lab focuses on the adrenergic nervous system in which norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine are the classic neurotransmitters. By genetically eliminating the biosynthetic enzyme for NE, dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH), mutant mice (Dbh-/-) that completely lack NE and epinephrine have been created. These mice are conditional mutants in that NE can be restored to the adrenergic terminals by supplying a synthetic amino acid precursor of NE, L-DOPS. The lab is pursuing several fundamental observations that resulted from the creation of these mutant mice. These include the critical role of NE in synaptic plasticity, learning and memory, sleep/wake regulation, anxiety, aggression, maternal behavior and the mechanisms of antidepressant drug action. We are also pursuing several novel genetic approaches for producing complementary models to the Dbh-/- mice toward a more complete understanding of CNS adrenergic function.
Thomas SA, Matsumoto AM & Palmiter RD: Noradrenaline is essential for mouse fetal development. Nature 374: 643-646, 1995.
Thomas SA & Palmiter RD: Thermoregulatory and metabolic phenotypes of mice lacking noradrenaline and adrenaline. Nature 387: 94-97, 1997.
Thomas SA & Palmiter RD: Impaired maternal behavior in mice lacking norepinephrine and epinephrine. Cell 91: 583-592, 1997.
Cryan JF, O’Leary OF, Jin SH, Friedland JC, Ouyang M, Hirsch BR, Page ME, Dalvi A, Thomas SA & Lucki I: Norepinephrine-deficient mice lack responses to antidepressant drugs, including SSRIs. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 101: 8186-8191, 2004.
Murchison CF, Zhang XY, Zhang WP, Ouyang M, Lee A & Thomas SA: A distinct role for norepinephrine in memory retrieval. Cell 117: 131-143, 2004.
Ouyang M, Hellman K, Abel T & Thomas SA: Adrenergic signaling plays a critical role in the maintenance of waking and in the regulation of REM sleep. J Neurophys 92: 2071-2082, 2004.
Jin SH, Blendy JA & Thomas SA: Cyclic AMP response element-binding protein is required for normal maternal nurturing behavior. Neurosci 133: 647-655, 2005.
Zhang WP, Guzowski JF & Thomas SA: Mapping neuronal activation and the influence of adrenergic signaling during contextual memory retrieval. Learning & Memory 12: 239-247, 2005.
Ouyang M & Thomas SA: A requirement for memory retrieval during and after long-term extinction learning. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 102: 9347-9352, 2005.
Katayama Y, Battista M, Kao WM, Hidalgo A, Peired AJ, Thomas SA & Frenette PS: Signals from the sympathetic nervous system regulate hematopoietic stem and progenitor Cell egress from bone marrow. Cell: 124: 407-421, 2006.
Awards, Honors, Membership in Honorary Societies:| • | Young Investigator Award, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), 1999-2001 & 2001-2003 |
| • | I.J. Kopin Fellowship for Excellence in Catecholamine Research, Foundation for Catecholamine Research, 2001 |
| • | Honorable Mention recipient of the Daniel X. Freedman Award for "Outstanding Basic Research Achievement by a NARSAD Young Investigator", NARSAD, 2005 |
| William Beckerman
Research Specialist beckerma@sas.upenn.edu |
Jacqueline Morris
Graduate Student jacquefm@mail.med.upenn.edu |
| Melissa Murray Neonatology Fellow murraym@email.chop.edu |
Ming Ouyang Research Associate ouyangm65@hotmail.com |
| Keith Schutsky Graduate Student kschutsk@mail.med.upenn.edu |
Department of Pharmacology
101 John Morgan Building
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
3620 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia , PA 19104-6084
Lab Telephone: 215-573-4951 Lab Fax: 215-573-2236