Mahalakshmi Somayaji

Columbia University

Investigating the physiology of dopamine neurons in pre-clinical Parkinson's Disease

2016-2017: Spring

Mahalakshmi Somayaji is a postdoctoral research scientist at the department of Molecular Therapeutics, Columbia University, New York. She obtained Ph.D in Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy from Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. The main research focus during her graduate studies was in the development of experimental mouse models relevant to Parkinson disease (PD) and to understand the etiology of PD. She investigated the physiology of dopaminergic (DA) neurons, the loss of which results in the onset and pathogenesis of PD. Her research was the first to identify the precise anatomical localization and in vivo physiology of DA neurons, to understand differential pre-symptomatic vulnerability in response to stressors in PD. Her postdoctoral research includes understanding the synaptic physiology of DA neurons in the pre-symptomatic mouse models of PD and to investigate the role of DA pathway in regulating appetite.

List of her peer-reviewed publications: (Maiden name: Mahalakshmi Subramaniam)

Book Chapter

  • Subramaniam*, M., Roeper, J. “Subtypes of midbrain dopamine neurons”, Handbook of Basal Ganglia Structure and Function, Second Edition (2016).

Papers in Peer-Reviewed Journals

  • Subramaniam*, M., Althof, D., Gispert, S., Schwenk, J., Auburger, G., Kulik, A., & Roeper, J. (2014). Mutant α-synuclein enhances firing frequencies in dopamine substantia nigra neurons by oxidative impairment of A-type potassium channels. The Journal of Neuroscience, 34(41), 13586-99.
  • Subramaniam*, M., Kern, B., Vogel, S., Klose, V., Schneider, G., & Roeper, J. (2014). Selective increase of in vivo firing frequencies in DA SN neurons after proteasome inhibition in the ventral midbrain. European Journal of Neuroscience, 40(6), 2898-2909.
  • Dominguez-Bautista, J. A., Klinkenberg, M., Brehm, N., Subramaniam*, M., Kern, B., Roeper, J., Auburger, G & Jendrach, M. (2015). Loss of lysosome-associated membrane protein 3 (LAMP3) enhances cellular vulnerability against proteasomal inhibition. European journal of cell biology, 94(3), 148-61.
  • Aishwarya, S., Mahalakshmi, S*, & Sehgal, P. K. (2008). Collagen-coated polycaprolactone microparticles as a controlled drug delivery system. Journal of microencapsulation, 25(5), 298-306.