About Dr. Featherstone's Research

Cells communicate with each other via chemical messengers. In the brain, the most common chemical messenger is glutamate. Glutamate signaling is also used outside the brain. We are working to understand how cells inside and outside the brain control glutamate receptor abundance, and therefore information flow.

We use genetics to manipulate specific proteins that we think might be involved, or to discover new proteins. We use fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) and mice. Both are powerful and widely used genetic model organisms.

We study the mutant flies and mice using a variety of experimental techniques, including electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, live imaging, behavioral analysis, and biochemistry (FISH, real-time PCR, immunoblotting, HPLC, etc.)

More information, including a complete publication list and descriptions of some current projects, is available via our lab web page.

Representative Publications

Subhashree Ganesan, Julie Karr, and David E. Featherstone. (2011) Drosophila glutamate receptor mRNA expression and mRNP particles. RNA Biology 1;8(5). [Sept]

David E. Featherstone. (2011) Glial SLC Transporters in Drosophila and Mice. GLIA 59(9):1351-1363.

Julie Karr, Vasia Vagin, Kaiyun Chen, Subhashree Ganesan, Oxana Olenkina, Vladimir Gvozdev, and David E. Featherstone. (2009) Regulation of glutamate receptor availability by microRNAs. Journal of Cell Biology 185(4): 685-697.

Yael Grosjean, Micheline Grillet, Hrvoje Augustin, Jean-Francois Ferveur, and David E. Featherstone. (2008) A glial amino acid transporter controls synapse strength and courtship in Drosophila. Nature Neuroscience 11(1): 54-61.

David E. Featherstone and Scott A. Shippy. (2008) Regulation of synaptic transmission by ambient extracellular glutamate. The Neuroscientist 14(2): 171-181.

Hrvoje Augustin/Yael Grosjean, Kaiyun Chen, Qi Sheng, and David E. Featherstone. (2007) Nonvesicular release of glutamate by glial xCT transporters suppresses glutamate receptor clustering in vivo. Journal of Neuroscience 27: 111-123.

K. Chen, C. Merino, S.J. Sigrist, and D.E. Featherstone. (2005) The 4.1 Protein Coracle Mediates Subunit-selective Anchoring of Drosophila Glutamate Receptors to the Postsynaptic Actin Cytoskeleton. Journal of Neuroscience 25(28): 6667-6675.