Dr Sherie Ma

- Dr Sherie Ma
BSc (Hons) (Mon) PhD (Melb)
NHMRC (Australia) Biomedical Australian Postdoctoral Fellow
Neuropeptides and Behavioural Neuroscience Divisions, Florey Neuroscience Institutes
Department of Medicine, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne
Contact Details
Email: | |
Phone: | +61 (0)3 8344 6759 |
Fax: | +61 (0)3 9348 1707 |
Research Interests
- Investigation of the nucleus incertus/relaxin-3 neural pathways in spatial and emotional memory
- Characterisation of the firing properties of nucleus incertus/relaxin-3 neurons and their RXFP3-positive target neurons
Current Projects
- Relaxin-3 and nucleus incertus influence on septohippocampal theta rhythm and spatial memory - peptide- and viral-based studies
- Relaxin-3 and nucleus incertus influence on amygdala activity and fear memory processing
- In vivo unit recording of nucleus incertus/relaxin-3 and RXFP3-positive neurons with juxtacellular labeling in anaesthetised rats
Laboratory Techniques
- Stereotaxic intracerebral cannulation of rats
- DataSciences International telemetry implantation and recording
- Fear memory: fear conditioning and extinction, inhibitory avoidance
- Spatial working memory: spontaneous alternation task, Barnes circular maze
- In vivo unit recording with juxtacellular labeling in anaesthetised rats
- Immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridisation and autoradiography
Selected Publications
Ma S, Olucha-Bordonau FE, Hossain MA, Lin F, Kuei C, Liu C, Wade JD, Sutton SW, Nunez A, Gundlach AL. (2009) Modulation of hippocampal theta oscillations and spatial memory by relaxin-3 neurons of the nucleus incertus. Learning & Memory (in press).
Ma S, Sang Q, Lanciego JL, Gundlach AL. (2009) Localization of relaxin-3 in brain of Macaca fascicularis – Identification of a nucleus incertus in primate. Journal of Comparative Neurology (in press).
Banerjee A, Shen P-J, Ma S, Bathgate RAD, Gundlach AL. (2009) Swim stress excitation of nucleus incertus and rapid induction of relaxin-3 expression via CRF1 activation. Neuropharmacology (in press).
Ma S, Bonaventure P, Ferraro T, Shen P-J, Burazin TCD, Bathgate RAD, Liu C, Tregear GW, Sutton SW, Gundlach AL. (2007) Relaxin-3 in GABA projection neurons of nucleus incertus suggests widespread influence on forebrain circuits via G-protein-coupled receptor-135 in the rat. Neuroscience 144: 165-190.
Ma S, Shen P-J, Burazin TCD, Tregear GW, Gundlach AL. (2006) Comparative localization of RXFP1 mRNA and [33P]-relaxin binding sites in rat brain: Restricted somatic co-expression a clue to relaxin action? Neuroscience 141: 329-344.
Ma S, Roozendaal B, Burazin TCD, Tregear GW, McGaugh JL, Gundlach AL. (2005) Relaxin in the basolateral amygdala impairs consolidation of fear memory. European Journal of Neuroscience 22: 2117-2122.

