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Doug Lobner, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Physiology and Neurobiology

Office: Schroeder Complex 480C

Laboratory: Schroeder Complex 484
(414) 288-6569

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Dr. Lobner received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dennis Choi at Washington University in St. Louis. He joined the faculty at Marquette in October 1997.

Research Interests

The main focus of my research is on determining the potential usefulness of neurotrophic factors for the treatment of stroke, spinal cord injury, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases. Neurotrophic factors are naturally occurring substances in the body that promote the growth and survival of neurons, because of these effects, the use of neurotrophic factors in the treatment of neurological diseases has engendered a great deal of enthusiasm. Lobner Lab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, to this point clinical trials involving a number of neurotrophic factors, against a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, have all failed to show beneficial effects. This lack of clinical effectiveness may be due to another aspect of neurotrophic factor effects: the potential for enhancement of some forms of injury. We have shown that some neurotrophic factors can actually potentiate some forms of neuronal death. The goal of the research is to determine under what conditions, and by what mechanisms, neurotrophic factors potentiate neuronal cell death so that these harmful effects may be eliminated, allowing neurotrophic factors to be used successfully in clinical situations.

A second area of interest is studying the neurotoxicity of dental materials. The use of dental amalgam is controversial because it contains mercury. Mercury is a known neurotoxin. However, we were the first to show that amalgam was neurotoxic. We went on to show that this toxicity was not due to mercury, but instead was due to release of zinc. While zinc is known to be neurotoxic, ingestion of zinc is not a major concern because zinc levels in the body are tightly regulated. The importance of this work is that it indicates that while amalgam can cause neurotoxicity in a culture system, it is not a health risk since the toxicity is due to release of zinc and not mercury. We have also been assessing the toxicity of root-end filling materials that are used in endodontics and a variety of materials used in orthodontics.

Selected Publications:

  1. Lipton P, Lobner D. Mechanisms of intracellular calcium accumulation in the CA1 region of rat hippocampus. Stroke. 1990;21(III):III-60-III-64.

  2. Lobner D, Lipton P. Sigma ligands and non-competitive NMDA antagonists inhibit glutamate release during cerebral ischemia. Neurosci Lett. 1990;117:169-174.
  3. Lobner D, Lipton P. Intracellular calcium levels and calcium fluxes in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampal slice during in vitro ischemia: relationship to electrophysiological damage. J Neurosci. 1993;13:4861-4871.
  4. Rokkas CK, Helfrich LR, Lobner D, Choi DW, Wareing TH, Kouchoukos NT. Dextrorphan inhibits the release of excitatory amino acids in spinal cord ischemia. Ann Thorac Surg 1994;58:312-320.
  5. Lobner D, Choi DW. Dipyridamole increases oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced injury in cortical cell culture. Stroke. 1994;25:2085-2090.
  6. Koh J, Gwag BJ, Lobner D, Choi DW. Potentiated necrosis of cultured cortical neurons by neurotrophins. Science. 1995;268:573-575.
  7. Rokkas CK, Cronin CS, Nitta T, Helfrich LR, Lobner DC, Choi DW, Kouchouckos NT. Profound systemic hypothermia inhibits the release of neurotransmitter amino acids in spinal cord ischemia. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 1995;110:27-35.
  8. Gwag BJ, Lobner D, Koh JY, Wie MB, Choi DW. Blockade of glutamate receptors unmasks neuronal apoptosis after oxygen-glucose deprivation in vitro. Neuroscience. 1995;68:615-619.
  9. Gwag BJ, Koh JY, Chen MM, Dugan LL, Behrens MM, Lobner D, Choi DW. BDNF or IGF-I potentiates free radical-mediated injury in cortical cell cultures. Neuroreport. 1995;7:93-96.
  10. Lobner D, Choi DW. Preincubation with protein synthesis inhibitors protects cortical neurons against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced death. Neuroscience. 1996,72:335-341.
  11. Hewett SJ, Muir JK, Lobner D, Symons A, Choi DW. Potentiation of oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neuronal death after induction of iNOS. Stroke. 1996,27:1586-1591.
  12. Muir JK, Lobner D, Monyer H, Choi DW. GABAA receptor activation attenuates excitotoxicity but exacerbates oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neuronal injury in vitro. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 1996;6:1211-1218.
  13. Dugan LL, Turetsky DM, Du C, Lobner D, Wheeler M, Almli CR, Shen CK-F, Luh T-Y, Choi DW, Lin T-S. Carboxyfullerenes as neuroprotective agents. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 1997;94:9434-9439.
  14. Snider BJ, Lobner D, Yamada K, Choi DW. Conditioning heat stress Reduces excitotoxic and apoptotic components of oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neuronal death in vitro. J Neurochem. 1998;70:120-129.
  15. McDonald JW, Bhattocharyya T, Sensi SL, Lobner D, Ying HS, Canzoniero LM, Choi DW.  Extracellular acidity potentiates AMPA receptor-mediated cortical neuronal death. J Neurosci. 1998;18:6290-6299.
  16. Strasser U, Lobner D, Behrens MM, Canzoniero LM, Choi DW. Antagonists for group I mGluRs attenuate excitotoxic neuronal death in cortical cultures. Eur J Neurosci. 1998;10:2848-2855.
  17. Behrens MM, Strasser U, Heidinger V, Lobner D, Yu SP, McDonald JW, Won M, Choi DW. Selective activation of group II mGluRs with LY354740 does not prevent neuronal excitotoxicity. Neuropharm. 1999;38:1621-1630.
  18. Behrens MM, Strasser U, Lobner D, Dugan LL. Neurotrophin-mediated potentiation of neuronal injury. Micro Res Tech. 1999;45:276-284.
  19. Lobner D, Canzoniero LM, Manzerra P, Gottron F, Ying H, Knudson M, Tian M, Dugan LL, Kerchner GA, Sheline CT, Korsmeyer SJ, Choi DW. Zinc-induced neuronal death in cortical neurons. Cell Mol Biol. 2000;6:797-806.
  20. Lobner D. Comparison of the LDH and MTT assays for quantifying cell death: validity for neuronal apoptosis? J Neurosci Meth. 2000;96:147-152.

  21. Asrari M, Lobner D. Calcitonin potentiates oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neuronal death. Exper Neurol. 2001;167:183-188.

  22. Grabb MC, Lobner D, Turetsky DM, Choi DW. Preconditioned resistance to oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced cortical neuronal death: alterations in vesicular GABA and glutamate release. Neuroscience. 2002;115:173-183.
  23. Lobner D, Ali C. Mechanisms of bFGF and NT-4 potentiation of necrotic neuronal death. Brain Research. 2002;954:42-50.
  24. Lobner D. Saturation of neuroprotective effects of adenosine in cortical culture. Neuroreport. 2002;13:2075-2078.
  25. Lobner D, Asrari M. Neurotoxicity of dental amalgam is mediated by zinc. J Dental Res. 2003;82:243-246.
  26. Lobner D, Golner S, Hjelmhaug J. Neurotrophic factor effects on oxidative stress-induced neuronal death. Neurochem Res. 2003;28:749-756.
  27. Asrari M, Lobner D. Neurotoxic evaluation of root-end filling materials. J Endodontics. 2003;29:743-746.
  28. David A, Lobner D. In vitro cytotoxicity of orthodontic archwires in cortical cell cultures. Euro J Orthodontics. 2004;26:421-426.
  29. Hanson M, Lobner D. In vitro neuronal cytotoxicity of latex and non-latex orthodontic elastics.  Amer J Orthod Dentofacial Orthopedics. 2004;126:65-70.
  30. Lobner D, Liot G. Role of MAPK/ERK in neurotrophin-4 potentiation of necrotic neuronal death. Neurochem Res. 2004;29:2291-2297.
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