Eric E. Turner,
M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
UCSD
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA. 92093-0603
E-mail : eturner@ucsd.edu
Turner Laboratory: Developmental Neurobiology Research
Biography
Dr. Turner received his undergraduate degree from Stanford
University. He then entered the Medical Scientist Training Program
at the University of Washington, Seattle, and was awarded an M.D.
degree in 1986, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1987 for studies of
early development in invertebrates. Dr. Turner completed his
internship in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington
Affiliated Hospitals, followed by a residency in Psychiatry at UCSD.
After completing his clinical training, he conducted postdoctoral
research as a Howard Hughes Physician Fellow and NARSAD Young
Investigator at UCSD. He joined the faculty of the UCSD Department
of Psychiatry in 1994, and is also a staff psychiatrist of the VA
Medical Center, San Diego.
Research Focus
Dr. Turner’s laboratory conducts research in basic mechanisms of
brain development, using transgenic mouse and chick embryo models.
The vertebrate nervous system includes many different classes of
neurons, each exhibiting characteristic neurotransmitter receptors,
ion channels, patterns of axonal growth, and synapse formation.
Producing this cellular diversity during brain development is, in
part, an enormous problem of gene regulation. To better understand
these processes, we study transcription factors of the homeodomain
family that bind to DNA and activate or repress gene expression in
specific classes of neurons. Clarifying these basic developmental
mechanisms will provide a context in which we may better understand
complex human brain disorders with a developmental component, such
as schizophrenia and autism.
Clinical Focus
Dr. Turner is a Staff Psychiatrist of the VA Medical Center, San
Diego. He practices general adult psychiatry with a special interest
in schizophrenia.
Selected Publications
- Gruber, CA, Rhee, JM, Gleiberman, A, and Turner, EE. POU-domain
factors of the Brn-3 class recognize functional DNA elements which
are distinctive, symmetrical, and highly conserved in evolution.
Mol. Cell Bio. 17, 2391-2400 (1997).
- Trieu, M, Rhee, JM, Fedtsova, N and Turner, EE. Autoregulatory
Sequences are Revealed by Complex Stability Screening of the Mouse
brn-3.0 Locus. J. Neuroscience 19, 6549-58 (1999).
- Eng, SR, Gratwick, K, Rhee, JM, Fedtsova, N, Gan, L and Turner, EE.
Defects in sensory axon growth precede neuronal death in
Brn3a-deficient mice. J. Neuroscience, 21, 541-49 (2001).
- Fedtsova, N and Turner, EE. Signals from the ventral midline and
isthmus regulate the development of Brn3.0-expressing neurons in the
midbrain. Mech. Devel.105, 129-144 (2001).
- Trieu, M, Ma, A, Eng, SR, Fedtsova, N, and Turner, EE. Direct
autoregulation and gene dosage compensation by POU-domain
transcription factor Brn3a. Development, 130, 111-121 (2003).
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