David Linn
COURSES TAUGHT
BMS 291 - Lab in Human Physiology
BMS 301 - Introduction to Research
BMS 310 - Pathophysiology
BMS 311 - Pharmacology
BMS 508 - Advanced Physiology
NUR 620 - Clinical Pharmacology
EDUCATION
Post Doc: LSU Eye Center, New Orleans, LA
Post Doc: Moran Eye Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Ph.D. - University of Texas, Houston Medical Center
M.S. Rice University, Houston, TX
RESEARCH INTERESTS
One emphasis in my lab has been to isolate the cells in the eye that die during glaucoma, and then test compounds that may protect them. This work has focused on examining the neuroprotective effect of drugs that selectively activate a specific type of nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor (the alpha7 nAChR), on retinal ganglion cells from the pig eye. We followed that project with the examination of a selective ‘positive allosteric modulator’ (PAM) of alpha7 nAChRs. More recently, we have explored the possibility that drugs originally developed for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) could be used for glaucoma. These AD drugs were originally designed to promote the amount of ACh released in the brain to compensate for the loss of cholinergic neurons during AD. We have shown that one such compound increases the release of ACh from the pig eye & appears to activate alpha7 nAChRs in a ‘mixed’ retinal cell culture system resulting in increased survival. New projects include retinal slice studies using the confocal microscope to determine which cells are activated by these ‘release enhancers’ and at what concentrations. In the future, we plan on examining these neuroprotective compounds in rodents to determine the extent of neuroprotection and the possibility of the proliferation of new cells in the mammalian retina.