Biography
Biography: Wayne Grant Carter
Abstract
The mechanism by which neurotoxicants, such as alcohol, damage neurons is not fully understood. To investigate the\\\\r\\\\nneuropathology arising from cumulative excessive alcohol consumption we examined prefrontal cortex brain tissue from human\\\\r\\\\nalcoholics and age, gender, and post-mortem delay matched control subjects. H&E staining and light microscopy of prefrontal\\\\r\\\\ncortex tissue revealed a reduction in the levels of cytoskeleton surrounding the nuclei of cortical and subcortical neurons, and a\\\\r\\\\ndisruption of subcortical neuron patterning in alcoholic subjects. One dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis proteomics\\\\r\\\\nof cytosolic proteins identified dramatic reductions in the protein levels of spectrin β II, and α- and β-tubulins in alcoholics, and\\\\r\\\\nthese were validated and quantitated by Western blotting. In alcoholics, significant loss of cytosolic α- and β-tubulins was also\\\\r\\\\nseen in the other brain regions examined: caudate nucleus, hippocampus, and cerebellum. We have also extended our studies to\\\\r\\\\nassess brain damage in rats administered alcohol for a 4-week period. Results of this short-term (acute) alcohol exposure will also\\\\r\\\\nbe discussed.