Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy

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Cheryl L. Stucky, PhD
Associate Professor

Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anatomy
Medical College of Wisconsin
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509

Phone: (414) 955-8373
FAX: (414) 955-6517
email: cstucky@mcw.edu

 List of publications

Positions Available:
Positions are currently available for PhD students and Postdoctoral Fellows. Please contact Dr. Cheryl Stucky at cstucky@mcw.edu or visit our Postdoctoral Positions web page.

 

Pain is the most common reason people go to a doctor. Over 57% of all Americans experience chronic pain at some point in life. Types of chronic pain include back pain, migraine headaches, arthritis, neuropathic pain and cancer pain. Pain is signaled by special sensory neurons called "nociceptors" in skin or muscle. Nociceptors are activated by intense force, heat, cold and also by chemicals like acid or capsaicin, the 'hot' ingredient in chili peppers. After injury or disease, nociceptors become more responsive to painful stimuli and this "sensitization" in part causes the intense pain we feel when our body is injured. Yet, little is known about the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which mechanical force, cold and heat stimuli are converted into neural signals in nociceptors.

My lab uses physiological techniques to determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie chronic pain. We are one of the few labs that use a unique skin-nerve electrophysiological preparation. Action potentials are recorded from the axons of single nociceptors while natural stimuli are applied to their receptive terminals in skin. On a more cellular level, we use patch clamp and calcium imaging recordings of isolated neurons to measure the direct activation of ion channels by force, heat and cold. By using these techniques with genetically-modified mice, we can dissect the cellular and molecular basis of sensory transduction in nociceptors. Our main focus is on Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels. For example, our group and others have recently demonstrated that the menthol receptor, TRPM8, is the major receptor that conveys the sensation of cool as well as noxious cold (Bautista et. al., 2007 Nature). In addition, we focus on the TRPV1 channel, which is activated by painful heat and capsaicin. Further, we are investigating the role of the TRPA1 receptor in mechanotransduction (sensation of touch and pressure). Our goal is to uncover novel targets for developing more effective drugs that will relieve specific types of chronic pain which continue to plague more than half of the world's population.

   The Stucky Lab - August 2008  

(left to right): Cheryl Stucky, Patrick Kerstein, Daniel Vilceanu, Marie Barabas, Rick Lennertz 

Honors and Awards:
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 Standing Ovation Award for 2008 from MCW Medical Students for teaching Medical Neuroscience
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 Bethel College Young Alumni Award for 2004
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 John C. Liebeskind Early Career Scholar Award for 2002 for outstanding accomplishments in pain scholarship
 
Selected Publications:
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Pharmacological blockade of TRPA1 inhibits mechanical firing in nociceptors.  Mol Pain. 2009 Apr 21;5:19
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 Kwan KY, Glazer JM, Corey DP, Rice FL, Stucky CL. TRPA1 modulates mechanotransduction in cutaneous sensory neurons. J Neurosci. 2009 Apr 15;29(15):4808-19.
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Stucky CL, Dubin AE, Jeske NA, Malin SA, McKemy DD, Story GM. Roles of transient receptor potential channels in pain. Brain Res Rev. 2009 Apr;60(1):2-23. Epub 2008 Dec 31.
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 Kerstein PC, del Camino D, Moran MM, Stucky CL. Roles of transient receptor potential channels in pain. Stucky CL, Dubin AE, Jeske NA, Malin SA, McKemy DD, Story GM. Brain Res Rev. 2008 Dec 31. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.
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 Fioravanti B, De Felice M, Stucky CL, Medler KA, Luo MC, Gardell LR, Ibrahim M, Malan TP Jr, Yamamura HI, Ossipov MH, King T, Lai J, Porreca
F, Vanderah TW. J Neurosci. 2008 Nov 5;28(45):11593-602.
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Wilson-Gerwing TD, Stucky CL, McComb GW, Verge VM.  Neurotrophin-3 significantly reduces sodium channel expression linked to neuropathic pain states. Exp Neurol. 2008 Jun 14.
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Rigaud M, Gemes G, Barabas ME, Chernoff DI, Abram SE, Stucky CL, Hogan QH.  Species and strain differences in rodent sciatic nerve anatomy: implications for studies of neuropathic pain. Pain. 2008 May;136(1-2):188-201.
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Martinez-Salgado C, Benckendorff AG, Chiang LY, Wang R, Milenkovic N, Wetzel C, Hu J, Stucky CL, Parra MG, Mohandas N, Lewin GR.
Stomatin and sensory neuron mechanotransduction. J Neurophysiol. 2007 Dec;98(6):3802-8. Epub 2007 Oct 17.
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Khasabova IA, Stucky CL, Harding-Rose C, Eikmeier L, Beitz AJ, Coicou LG, Hanson AE, Simone DA and Seybold VS: Chemical Interactions between Fibrosarcoma Cancer Cells and Sensory Neurons Contribute to Cancer Pain. J Neurosci 27:10289-98, 2007.
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Bautista DM, Siemens J, Glazer JM, Tsuruda PR, Basbaum AI, Stucky CL, Jordt SE, Julius D: The menthol receptor TRPM8 is the principal detector of environmental cold. Nature 448:147-8, 2007.
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Mogil JS, NM Breese, MF Witty, J Ritchie, ML Rainville, A Ase, N Abbadi, CL Stucky and P Seguela: Transgenic expression of a dominant-negative ASIC3 subunit leads to increased sensitivity to mechanical and inflammatory stimuli. J Neurosci 25:9893-9901, 2005.
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Breese NM, AC George, LE Pauers and CL Stucky: Peripheral inflammation selectively increases TRPV1 function in IB4-positive sensory neurons from adult mouse. Pain 115:37-49, 2005.
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 Stucky CL, KA Medler and DC Molliver: The P2Y agonist UTP activates cutaneous afferent fibers. Pain 109:36-44, 2004.
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Sluka KA, MP Price, NM Breese, CL Stucky, JA Wemmie and MJ Welsh: Chronic hyperalgesia induced by repeated acid injections in muscle is abolished by the loss of ASIC3, but not ASIC1. Pain 106:229-239, 2003.
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Dirajlal S, LE Pauers and CL Stucky: Differential response properties of IB4-positive and -negative unmyelinated sensory neurons to protons and capsaicin. J Neurophys 89:513-524, 2003.
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Zeitz KP, N Guy, AB Malmberg, S Dirajlal, WJ Martin, L Sun, DW Bonhaus, CL Stucky, D Julius and AI Basbaum: The 5-HT3 subtype of serotonin receptor contributes to nociceptive processing via a novel subset of myelinated and unmyelinated nociceptors. J Neurosci 22:1010-1019, 2002.
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 Stucky CL, JB Shin and GR Lewin: Neurotrophin-4: A survival factor for adult sensory neurons. Current Biology 12:1401-1404, 2002.
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Stucky CL, J Rossi, MS Airaksinen and GR Lewin: GFR alpha2/neurturin signalling regulates noxious heat transduction in isolectin B4-binding mouse sensory neurons. J Physiol 545:43-50, 2002.
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 Stucky CL, MS Gold and X Zhang: Mechanisms of pain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:11845-11846, 2001.
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Price MP, GR Lewin, SL McIlwrath, C Chen, J Xie, PA Heppenstall, CL Stucky, AG Mannsfeldt, TJ Brennan, HA Drummond, J Qiao, CJ Benson, DE Tarr, RF Hrstka, B Yang, RA Williamson and MJ Welsh: The mammalian Na+ channel BNC1 is required for normal touch sensation. Nature 407:1007-1011, 2000.
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 Stucky CL and GR Lewin: Isolectin B4-positive and negative nociceptors are functionally distinct. J Neurosci 19:6497-6505, 1999.
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Stucky CL, M Koltzenburg, M Schneider, MG Engle, KM Albers and BM Davis: Overexpression of nerve growth factor in skin selectively affects the survival and functional properties of nociceptors. J Neurosci 19:8509-8516, 1999.
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Stucky CL, T DeChiara, RM Lindsay, GD Yancopoulos, M Koltzenburg: Neurotrophin 4 is required for the survival of a subclass of hair follicle receptors. J Neurosci 18:7040-7046, 1998.
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 Stucky CL and M Koltzenburg: The low-affinity neurotrophin receptor p75 regulates the function but not the selective survival of specific subpopulations of sensory neurons. J Neurosci 17:4398-4405, 1997.

 

Education:
PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1995
Postdoctoral, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany and Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany

Graduate Programs:
Program in Cell and Developmental Biology
Program in Neuroscience

Research Area: Cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying pain 

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