Curriculum Vitae
- A.B. (Honors in Neural Studies with Leon Cooper) Brown University, 1975
- Ph.D. Physiology (with Clay Armstrong), Dept. of Physiology, University of Pennsylvania 1984
- Postdoctorate: Neurobiology (with John Nicholls), Biocenter, Basel, Switzerland 1985-'87
- Senior Research Associate, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 1987-1990
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1987-1990
- Assistant Professor, Univ. of Miami School of Medicine, '90-96
- Director, MD/PhD Program, Univ. of Miami School of Medicine, '93- 2007
- Associate Professor, Univ. of Miami School of Medicine, '96-present
- Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Univ. of Miami School of Medicine, '97-2006
- Vice Provost for Research, 2006-present
- Executive Dean for Research and Research Training, 2006-present
Research Interests
What are the molecular mechanisms responsible for the release of neurotransmitters and hormones? This is the main question that is the focus of our laboratory. In search of answers, we employ a variety of means to extract information from single cells in tissue culture. Many of the techniques are biophysical. For example, to measure the kinetics of hormone release from a single cell with millisecond time resolution, we have developed methods to measure changes in cell surface area that result from the fusion of a few secretory vesicles with the plasma membrane. In neurons, vesicle fusion (and subsequent release) is triggered by an elevation in intracellular calcium. We use digital video microscopy to measure changes in intracellular calcium through the use of fluorescent probes. By combining these techniques and others, we are developing models for the kinetics of release that constrain the number and type of molecular interactions.
Another major line of investigation concerns the neural control of the cells of the airway epithelium, a new area that is critical in such diseases as asthma and cystic fibrosis. Current experiments are focused on the modulation of ciliary beating frequency by cholinergic and purinergic agonists. Toward his end, we developed image processing techniques for 'single cilium recording' in parallel with monitoring intracellular calcium. With these methods, our data demonstrate 1) the ability of cholinergic agonists to stimulate ciliary activity, 2) the signal transduction pathways that participate in this action, and 3) the strong coupling between intracellular calcium and the frequency of ciliary beating. In pursuit of its scientific goals, our laboratory also develops instrumentation and software.
Selected recent publications
Fidler, N.H., Nowycky, M. and Bookman, R.J. (1990). Direct measurement of exocytosis and calcium currents in single isolated nerve terminals. Nature, 344:449-451
Bookman, R.J., Lim, N.F., Schweizer, F.E. and Nowycky, M.(1991). Single cell assays of excitation-secretion coupling. Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 635:352-364.
Bookman, R.J. and Horrigan, F.T.(1993). Sampling characteristics of CCD video cameras, in Optical Microscopy: New Technologies and Applications, Ed. by B. Herman and J. Lemasters, Academic Press, New York
Horrigan, F.T. and Bookman, R.J. (1994) Releasable pools and the kinetics of exocytosis in adrenal chromaffin cells. Neuron, 13, 1119-1129.
Bixby, J.L., Grunwald, G., and Bookman, R.J. (1994) Ca2+ influx and neurite growth in response to purified N-cadherin and laminin. J. Cell. Bio. 127, 1461-1475.
Herrington, J. and Bookman, R.J. (1994) PULSE CONTROL V4.0: Igor XOPS for patch clamp data acquisition and capacitance measurements, University of Miami, Miami, FL.
You can download the latest version of this NSF-funded software by clicking here.
Salathe, M. and Bookman, R.J., (1995) Coupling of [Ca2+]i and ciliary beating in cultured tracheal epithelial cells. J. Cell Sci. 108, 431-440.
Bixby JL, Bookman RJ. Intracellular mechanisms of axon growth induction by CAMs and integrins: some unresolved issues. Perspect Dev Neurobiol. 1996, 4:147-56.
Salathe M, Lipson EJ, Ivonnet PI, Bookman RJ. Muscarinic signaling in ciliated tracheal epithelial cells: dual effects on Ca2+ and ciliary beating. Am J Physiol. 1997, 272: L301-10.
Salathe M, Bookman RJ. Mode of Ca2+ action on ciliary beat frequency in single ovine airway epithelial cells. J Physiol. 1999, 520: 851-65.
Salathe M, Lieb T, Bookman RJ. Lack of nitric oxide involvement in cholinergic modulation of ovine ciliary beat frequency. J Aerosol Med. 2000 Fall;13(3):219-29.
Sun QL, Wang J, Bookman RJ, Bixby JL. Growth cone steering by receptor tyrosine phosphatase delta defines a distinct class of guidance cue. Mol Cell Neurosci. 2000 Nov;16(5):686-95.
Salathe M, Ivonnet PI, Lieb T, Bookman RJ. Agonist-stimulated calcium decreases in ovine ciliated airway epithelial cells: role of mitochondria. J Physiol. 2001 Feb 15;531(Pt 1):13-26.
Lieb T, Frei CW, Frohock JI, Bookman RJ, Salathe M. Prolonged increase in ciliary beat frequency after short-term purinergic stimulation in human airway epithelial cells. J Physiol. 2002 Jan 15;538(Pt 2):633-646.
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