Dr. Vania F. Prado
"Professor, Cross Appointment with Physiology and
Department of Medicine
University of Western Ontario
Canada
Biography
Dr. Vania F. Prado is a "Professor, Cross Appointment with Physiology and Pharmacology and Robarts Research Institute" in Department of Medicine at University of Western Ontario, Canada.
Research Interest
The focus of my research is the cholinergic system. During aging and age-related dementia such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease, altered release of the cholinergic transmitter acetylcholine seems to underlie some of the cognitive and behavioral deficits observed in patients. Hence we have generated a collection of genetically modified mice to test the role of cholinergic transporters for maintaining the synthesis and storage of acetylcholine in nerve terminals. This research test the possibility that cholinergic transporters can function as drug targets to improve acetylcholine release, an important therapeutic approach in dementia, myasthenia and other disturbances of the cholinergic system. Also, we are developing novel recombinant proteins that are active on ion channels and have potential to be used as therapeutic drugs. These recombinant toxins, originally identified in the venom of a Brazilian spider, have been shown to be effective in controlling pain and cardiac arrhythmia in animal models.
Publications
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Trevisan G, Reis H, Souza IA, Richardson M, Prado MA, Prado VF. Analgesic effect in rodents of native and recombinant Phα1β toxin, a high-voltage-activated calcium channel blocker isolated from armed spider venom. Pain. 2008 Nov 15;140(1):115-26.
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De Castro BM, Pereira GS, Magalhaes V, Rossato JI, De Jaeger X, Martinsâ€Silva C, Leles B, Lima P, Gomez MV, Gainetdinov RR, Caron MG. Reduced expression of the vesicular acetylcholine transporter causes learning deficits in mice. Genes, Brain and Behavior. 2009 Feb 1;8(1):23-35. Souza AH, Ferreira J, do Nascimento Cordeiro M, Vieira LB, De Castro CJ,
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de Castro BM, De Jaeger X, Martins-Silva C, Lima RD, Amaral E, Menezes C, Lima P, Neves CM, Pires RG, Gould TW, Welch I. The vesicular acetylcholine transporter is required for neuromuscular development and function. Molecular and cellular biology. 2009 Oct 1;29(19):5238-50.
