Ernest Steele

Courses Taught:       

BIOL 303: Genetics

Education and Training:      

Undergraduate (B.S.):Biology, Emory College, Atlanta, GA

Graduate (Ph.D.): Genetics and Molecular Biology Program, Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences,  Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Emory University

Postdoc:Dept. of Cell Biology, Harvard University, Boston, MA,

Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Morehouse School of

Medicine, Atlanta, GA

Research Interests :

The research interests of my lab encompass the molecular, cellular, and physiological aspects of retinal structure and function under both normal and pathological conditions.

My lab has special interest in the Müller cell, a specialized retinal glial cell which plays a major role in both supporting normal neuronal functioning within the retina and maintaining the integrity of the blood-retina barrier.  I hypothesize that changes in the normal expression and function profiles of the Müller cells play a direct and pivotal role in the development of neuronal and vascular complications within the retina in the context of systemic diseases or trauma.  I am particularly interested in identifying such changes in the Müller cells during the earliest stages of development of diseases (such as diabetic retinopathy and ischemia-induced retinopathy following stroke) and demonstrating a direct contribution of these changes to neuronal and vascular dysfunction within the retina.

The long-term goal of my research effort is to establish the Müller cell as a novel cellular target and to identify specific molecular targets within these cells for the development of novel intervention and prevention strategies to reduce the personal and societal burden of vision loss which currently results from conditions such diabetes and stroke.

Current efforts are funded jointly by the National Eye Institute (NEI) and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities(NCMHD).

Selected Publications:

1. Church RL, Wang JH, and Steele E (1995) The human lens intrinsic membrane protein MP70 (Cx50): Clonal analysis and chromosomal mapping, Curr. Eye Res. 14:215-221.

2. Elsas LJ, Langley S, Steele E, Evinger J, Fridovich-Keil JL, Brown A, Singh R, Fernhoff P, Hjelm LN, and Dembure PP (1995) Galactosemia: A strategy to identify new biochemical phenotypes and molecular genotypes, Am. J. Hum. Genet. 56:630-639.

3. Steele Jr EC, Kerscher S, Lyon MF, Glenister PH, Favor J, Wang JH, and Church RL (1997) Identification of a mutation in the MP19 gene, Lim2, in the cataractous mouse mutant, To3, Mol. Vis. 3:5 http://www.emory.edu/molvis/v3/steele.

4. Steele Jr EC, Lyon MF, Favor J, Guillot PV, Boyd Y, and Church RL (1998) A mutation in the connexin 50 (Cx50) gene is a candidate for the No2 mouse cataract, Curr. Eye Res. 17:883-889.

5. Steele Jr EC, Wang JH, Lo WK, Saperstein DA, Li XL, and Church RL (2000) Lim2To3 transgenic mice establish a causative relationship between the mutation identified in the Lim2 gene and cataractogenesis in the To3 mouse mutant, Mol. Vis. 6:85-94.

http://www.molvis.org/molvis/v6/a12/.

6. Steele EC Jr, Chen X, Iuvone PM, MacLeish PR (2005)Imaging of Ca2+ dynamics within the presynaptic terminals of salamander rod photoreceptors. J Neurophysiol. 94:4544-53. Epub 2005 Aug 17. http://jn.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/94/6/4544.

7. Steele EC Jr., Chen X, and MacLeish PR (2005) Fluoxetine inhibits calcium-activated currents of salamander photoreceptor somata and presynaptic terminals via modulation of intracellular calcium dynamics. Mol. Vis.11:1200-1210. http://www.molvis.org/molvis/v11/a137/

8. Xiao H, Chen X, and Steele EC Jr (2007) Abundant L-type calcium channel Cav1.3 (α1D) subunit mRNA is detected in rod photoreceptors of the mouse retina via in situ hybridization. Mol. Vis.13:764-771. http://www.molvis.org/molvis/v13/a83/

9. Steele EC Jr., Guo Q, Namura S (2008) Filamentous middle cerebral artery occlusion (fMCAO) induces retinal ischemia in mice. Stroke. 39:2099-104. Epub 2008 Apr 24.

http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/STROKEAHA.107.504357?ijkey=5elJHe81rRrD2Sx&keytype=ref

10. Ford GD, Ford BD, Steele EC Jr., Gates A, Hood D, Matthews MA, Mirza S, Macleish PR (2008) Analysis of transcriptional profiles and functional clustering of global cerebellar gene expression in PCD3J mice. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 377:556-61. Epub 2008 Oct 16. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WBK-4TP7XD0F&_user=961288&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000049400&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=961288&md5=074dd8297068d7081b8d30560eaa6f20

11. Steele EC Jr. Molecular and functional analysis of P2X and P2Y purinergic receptor expression in the rat Mueller (rMC-1) cell line. (Manuscript in preparation for submission to Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci.).

12. Steele EC Jr., Guo Q, Namura S. Review Article.  Retinal Ischemia and Stroke: Time for a New Paradigm? (In preparation for submission to Molecular Vision.)

Book Chapter:

Steele EC, Lyon MF, Glenister, PH, Guillot PV, and Church RL . Identification of a mutation in the connexin 50 (Cx50) gene of the No2 cataractous mouse mutant. In Gap Junctions. Edited by R. Werner. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: ISO Press, 1998, Pp.289-293.

Memberships : 

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)