Robert S. Sloviter,
Professor of Pharmacology and Neurology, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 1978
sloviter@u.arizona.edu

Neuropharmacology, neurotoxicology, neuroanatomy, and neurophysiology of epilepsy and other neurological disorders; mechanisms of neuronal death; anticonvulsant drug mechanisms.

Research Activities

The main interests of this laboratory are: 1) the structure and function of the nervous system with specific reference to epilepsy and other neurological disorders; 2) neurotoxicological mechanisms that initiate neuronal death, and how the loss of particular neuronal populations may alter network structure and function; 3) the identification of new pharmacological approaches for the treatment of epilepsy. The hippocampus, which is a brain region closely related to memory function and the development of temporal lobe epilepsy, serves as a network model system because its highly organized structure lends itself to physiological and anatomical study. For experimental epilepsy studies, we induce selective brain injury that replicates the human pathology presumably underlying the development of temporal lobe epilepsy. We also analyze human hippocampal surgical specimens in order to characterize and compare human hippocampal changes with those induced in animal models. We utilize a wide variety of investigative electrophysiological and neuroanatomical methods to confirm experimentally induced structural changes induced by seizure activity or the injection of neurotoxic agents. These methods include evoked potential recording in anesthetized and awake animals, and histological methods including standard and fluorescence immunocytochemistry for the localization of proteins and amino acid neurotransmitters, silver staining for the detection of degenerating cells, in situ hybridization for the cellular localization of mRNA, and electron microscopy. Once animals with identifiable network defects are produced, we attempt to identify new anticonvulsants that might be effective in treating what is often a pharmacologically refractory neurological disorder.

Publications (Query PubMed for this investigator)

Sloviter, R.S. Apoptosis; a guide for the perplexed. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 24:19-24, 2002.

Zappone, C.A. and Sloviter, R.S. Commissurally-projecting inhibitory interneurons of the rat hippocampal dentate gyrus; a co-localization study of neuronal markers and the retrograde tracer Fluoro-Gold. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 441:324-344, 2001.

Martin, J.L. and Sloviter, R.S. Focal inhibitory interneuron loss and principal cell hyperexcitability in the rat hippocampus after microinjection of a neurotoxic conjugate of saporin and a peptidase-resistant analog of Substance P. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 436:127-152, 2001.

Sloviter, RS, Ali-Akbarian, L, Horvath, KD, and Menkens, KA:  Substance P receptor expression by inhibitory interneurons of the rat hippocampus; enhanced detection using improved immunocytochemical methods for the preservation and co-localization of GABA and other neuronal markers. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 430:283-305, 2001.

Sloviter, R.S., Ali-Akbarian, L., Elliott, R.C., Bowery, B.J., Bowery, N.G.:  Localization of GABAB (R1) receptors in the rat hippocampus by immunocytochemistry and high resolution autoradiography, with specific reference to its localization in identified hippocampal interneuron subpopulations. Neuropharmacology, 38:1709-1723, 1999.

Sloviter, R.S. and Pedley, T.A.:  Subtle hippocampal malformation; importance in febrile seizures and development of epilepsy.  Neurology 50:846-849, 1998.

Parent, J.M., Yu, T.W., Leibowitz, R.T., Geschwind, D.H., Sloviter, R.S., and Lowenstein, D.H.:  Dentate granule cell neurogenesis is increased by seizures and contributes to aberrant network reorganization in the adult rat hippocampus.  Journal of Neuroscience 17:3727-3738, 1997.

Sloviter, R.S., M.A. Dichter, T.L. Rachinsky, E. Dean, J.H. Goodman, A.L. Sollas, and D.L. Martin: Basal expression and induction of glutamate decarboxylase and GABA in excitatory granule cells of the rat and monkey hippocampal dentate gyrus. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 373:593-618, 1996.

Sloviter, R.S., and J.L. Brisman: Lateral inhibition and granule cell synchrony in the rat hippocampal dentate gyrus. Journal of Neuroscience, 15:811-820, 1995.

Sloviter, R.S., Sollas, A.L., and Neubort, S.:Hippocampal dentate granule cell degeneration after adrenalectomy is not reversed by dexamethasone. Brain Research, 682:227-230, 1995.

Sloviter, R.S. and Lowenstein, D.H.: Heat shock protein expression in vulnerable cells of the rat hippocampus as an indicator of excitation-induced neuronal stress. Journal of Neuroscience, 12:3004-3009, 1992.

Sloviter, R.S., Valiquette, G., Abrams, G.M., Ronk, E., Sollas, A., Paul, L.A. and Neubort, S.: Selective loss of hippocampal granule cells in the mature rat brain after adrenalectomy. Science, 243:535-538, 1989.

Sloviter, R.S.: Decreased hippocampal inhibition and a selective loss of interneurons in experimental epilepsy. Science, 235:73-76, 1987.

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