Richard J. Reimer, MD

Clinical Focus

• Neurology

Honors and Awards

• Brain and Immuno imaging Grant, Dana Foundation (2007-09)
• Basil O'Connor Award, March of Dimes (2003-05)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Pascal Courville , Hiroaki Tani

Web Site Links

• Reimer Lab Site

Research Interests

Reimer Lab interests

A primary interest of our lab is to understand how nerve cells make and recycle neurotransmitters, the small molecules that they use to communicate with each other. In better defining these processes we hope to achieve our long-term goal of identifying novel sites for treatment of diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson Disease. In our studies on neurotransmitter metabolism we have focused our efforts on transporters, a functional class of proteins that move neurotransmitters and other small molecules across membranes in cells. Transporters have many characteristics that make them excellent pharmacological targets, and not surprisingly some of the most effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders are directed at transporters. We are specifically focusing on two groups of transporters – vesicular neurotransmitter transporters that package neurotransmitters into vesicles for release, and glutamine transporters that shuttle glutamine, a precursor for two major neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA, to neurons from glia, the supporting cells that surround them. We are pursuing these goals through molecular and biochemical studies, and, in collaboration with the Huguenard and Prince labs, through physiological and biosensor based imaging studies to better understand how pharmacological targeting of these molecules will influence neurological disorders.

A second interest of our lab is to define mechanism underlying the pathology of lysosomal storage disorders. Lysosomes are membrane bound acidic intracellular organelles filled with hydrolytic enzymes that normally function as recycling centers within cells by breaking down damaged cellular macromolecules. Several degenerative diseases designated as lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are associated with the accumulation of material within lysosomes. Tay-Sachs disease, Neimann-Pick disease and Gaucher disease are some of the more common LSDs. For reasons that remain incompletely...

Publications

• Synaptic Vesicle Protein NTT4/XT1 (SLC6A17) Catalyzes Na+-coupled Neutral Amino Acid Transport. Zaia KA, Reimer RJ. J Biol Chem. 2009; 284 (13): 8439-48
• Imaging of glutamate in brain slices using FRET sensors. Dulla C, Tani H, Okumoto S, Frommer WB, Reimer RJ, Huguenard JR. J Neurosci Methods. 2008; 168 (2): 306-19
• Modulation of epileptiform activity by glutamine and system A transport in a model of post-traumatic epilepsy. Tani H, Bandrowski AE, Parada I, Wynn M, Huguenard JR, Prince DA, Reimer RJ. Neurobiol Dis. 2007; 25 (2): 230-8
• G328E and G409E sialin missense mutations similarly impair transport activity, but differentially affect trafficking. Myall NJ, Wreden CC, Wlizla M, Reimer RJ. Mol Genet Metab. 2007; 92 (4): 371-4
• Biochemical and genetic analysis of ANK in arthritis and bone disease. Gurley KA, Reimer RJ, Kingsley DM. Am J Hum Genet. 2006; 79 (6): 1017-29