Shelley J. Russek, PhD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Research Interests of the Russek Laboratory: Dysregulated Plasticity of the Nervous System

The plasticity of a neuron’s receptor systems at the membrane is a key feature of the brain that enables its development as well as its function throughout life, creating and responding to an ever-changing external and internal world. A glorious biological feature of existence, however, also contributes to mankind’s most devastating disorders. Dysregulated plasticity takes multiple forms, from the unrelenting seizures of an infant that later emerges with brain damage, to the manifestation of autism and schizophrenia, all begging for curative therapies. Our chief interests in the laboratory surround a desire to understand the genetic and epigenetic basis of neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptor regulation. We believe that such an understanding will enable us to contribute to the future development of therapeutics that can tackle these complex human problems where plasticity has lost its balance in controlling brain inhibition and excitation.

We employ a variety of proteomic and transcriptomic techniques, including confocal fluorescence immunohistochemistry, western blot, proximity ligation assays, siRNA silencing, RNA and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) high density sequencing, methylation genome analysis, proximity ligation analysis, primary neuronal cultures, and in vivo models (rodent and zebrafish) to test hypotheses of disease etiology and potential strategies for novel molecular therapeutics using novel chemical libraries and re-purposed therapeutics.

Publications

  • Published 12/5/2024

    Carrel A, Napoli E, Hixson K, Carlsen J, Cruz Del Angel Y, Strode D, Busquet N, Kumar V, Wempe MF, Russek SJ, Brooks-Kayal AR. Ruxolitinib-dependent reduction of seizure load and duration is accompanied by spatial memory improvement in the rat pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurotherapeutics. 2025 Mar; 22(2):e00506. PMID: 39643584.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/31/2024

    Phan BN, Ray MH, Xue X, Fu C, Fenster RJ, Kohut SJ, Bergman J, Haber SN, McCullough KM, Fish MK, Glausier JR, Su Q, Tipton AE, Lewis DA, Freyberg Z, Tseng GC, Russek SJ, Alekseyev Y, Ressler KJ, Seney ML, Pfenning AR, Logan RW. Single nuclei transcriptomics in human and non-human primate striatum in opioid use disorder. Nat Commun. 2024 Jan 31; 15(1):878. PMID: 38296993.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/7/2023

    Tipton AE, Cruz Del Angel Y, Hixson K, Carlsen J, Strode D, Busquet N, Mesches MH, Gonzalez MI, Napoli E, Russek SJ, Brooks-Kayal AR. Selective Neuronal Knockout of STAT3 Function Inhibits Epilepsy Progression, Improves Cognition, and Restores Dysregulated Gene Networks in a Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Model. Ann Neurol. 2023 Jul; 94(1):106-122. PMID: 36935347.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/15/2022

    Tipton AE, Russek SJ. Regulation of Inhibitory Signaling at the Receptor and Cellular Level; Advances in Our Understanding of GABAergic Neurotransmission and the Mechanisms by Which It Is Disrupted in Epilepsy. Front Synaptic Neurosci. 2022; 14:914374. PMID: 35874848.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/1/2021

    Tipton AE, George J, Ratner M, Farb D, Russek S. Data from single nuclei RNA-sequencing reveals a prodromal gene network response in excitatory neurons of a humanized rat Alzheimer's disease model. Alzheimers Dement. 2021 Dec; 17 Suppl 2:e058589. PMID: 34971150.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 63 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Director, Graduate Program for Neuroscience
    Boston University
  • Member, Genome Science Institute
    Boston University
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Websites

Education

  • Boston University, PhD
  • State University of New York at Stony Brook, MS
  • University of California, San Diego, BA

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