Dr David Bowser
BSc (Hons) (Melb) Grad Dip Info Tech (RMIT) PhD (Melb)
NHMRC Howard Florey Centenary Fellow
Neuropeptides Group
Laboratory Head, Synaptic Neurobiology Laboratory
Joint appointment with the Howard Florey Institute and Mental Health Research Institute.
Contact Details
Work: | +61 (0)3 8344 0417 |
Lab: | +61 (0)3 8344 5645 |
Fax: | +61 (0)3 9348 1707 |
Email: |
Research Interests
Please see Synaptic Neurobiology Laboratory.
Laboratory Techniques
- Molecular Biology
- Cell biology
- Confocal microscopy
- Total internal fluorescence microscopy
- Immunohistochemistry
- Single cell and brain slice electrophysiology
Additional Information
David Bowser completed his doctoral studies with Prof David Williams at the University of Melbourne in 1999. His work on the role of mitochondria in regulating cellular Ca2+ demonstrated the important role this organelle has in modulating cellular activities including apoptosis. With a developing interest in ion channels, David commenced post-doctoral studies with Dr Steven Petrou and worked on a multidisciplinary project to investigate the genetic basis of epilepsy. These investigations contributed to the first demonstration of how inhibitory GABA receptor mutations result in particular types of inherited epilepsy.
In 2002 David was awarded an European Molecular Biology Organisation Fellowship and moved to Dr Baljit Khakh’s laboratory at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (now at UCLA). Here his research focused on the role of astrocytes in modulating neuronal excitability. In 2006 he returned to Melbourne as a group leader in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University. David moved his laboratory to the Parkville precinct in August 2007 to take up a joint appointment with the Howard Florey and Mental Health Research Institutes.
Publications and Articles
Selected Publications
Bowser DN, and Khakh, BS. Vesicular ATP is the predominant cause of intercellular calcium waves in astrocytes. J. Gen. Physiol. 129(6):485-91 (2007)
Bowser DN, and Khakh, BS. Astrocyte calcium transients drive two forms of exocytosis, one with synaptic responses onto neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA.104(10):4212-7 (2007)
Khakh BS, Fisher JA, Nashimi R, Bowser DN and Lester HA. FRET imaging of P2X and acetylcholine receptor cross-inhibition in neurons. J Neurosci, 25(29):6911-20. (2005)
Bowser DN and Khakh BS ATP excites interneurons and astrocytes to increase synaptic inhibition in neuronal networks. J Neurosci, 24:8606-8620. (2004)
Bowser DN, Wagner DA, Czajkowski C, Cromer BA, Parker MW, Wallace RH, Harken LA, Mulley JC, Marini C, Berkovic SF, Williams DA, Jones MV & Petrou S. Altered kinetics and benzodiazepine sensitivity of a GABAA receptor subunit mutation (γ2-R43Q) found in human epilepsy. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 99(23):15170-15175. (2003)
Smart ML, Panchal RG, Bowser DN, Williams DA, Petrou S. Pore formation is not associated with macroscopic redistribution of P2X7 receptors. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, 283, C77-84. (2002)
Harkin LA, Bowser DN, Dibbens LM, Singh R, Phillips F, Wallace RH, Richards MC, Williams DA, Mulley JC, Berkovic SF, Scheffer IE, Petrou S. Truncation of the GABA(A)-receptor 2 subunit in a family with generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus. Am J Hum Genet, 70, 530-6. (2002)
Bowser DN, Petrou S, Panchal RG, Smart ML, Williams DA. Release of mitochondrial Ca2+ via the permeability transition activates endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ uptake. FASEB J, 16, 1105-1107. (2002)
Wallace RH, Marini C, Petrou S, Harkin LA, Bowser DN, Panchal RG, Williams DA, Sutherland GR, Mulley JC, Scheffer IE, Berkovic SF. Mutant GABA(A) receptor 2-subunit in childhood absence epilepsy and febrile seizures. Nature Genetics, 28, 49-52. (2001)
About
