Position: Postdoctoral Associate

Advisor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Education:

• B.Sc. Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine (2013)

• M.Sc. Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine (2015)

• Ph.D. Charles University, Prague, Czechia (2023)

Research Interest: My research is largely focused on the effect of the functional and pharmacological properties of disease-associated variants of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR). The scope of my current research is on delineation of the effects of NMDAR disease-associated variants on the receptor gating and ion permeability. In my previous studies, I was focused on uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying the positive and negative modulatory effects of neurosteroids on NMDAR.

Publications

• Candelas Serra M, Kuchtiak V, Kubik-Zahorodna A, et al. Characterization of Mice Carrying a Neurodevelopmental Disease-Associated GluN2B(L825V) Variant. J Neurosci. 2024;44(31):e2291232024. 

• Kysilov B, Kuchtiak V, Hrcka Krausova B, et al. Disease-associated nonsense and frame-shift variants resulting in the truncation of the GluN2A or GluN2B C-terminal domain decrease NMDAR surface expression and reduce potentiating effects of neurosteroids. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2024;81(1):36. 

• Abramova V, Leal Alvarado V, Hill M, et al. Effects of Pregnanolone Glutamate and Its Metabolites on GABAA and NMDA Receptors and Zebrafish Behavior. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2023;14(10):1870-1883. 

• Kysilov B, Hrcka Krausova B, Vyklicky V, et al. Pregnane-based steroids are novel positive NMDA receptor modulators that may compensate for the effect of loss-of-function disease-associated GRIN mutations. Br J Pharmacol. 2022;10.1111/bph.15841.

• Štefková-Mazochová K, Danda H, Dehaen W, et al. Pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and behavioural studies of deschloroketamine in Wistar rats. Br J Pharmacol. 2022;179(1):65-83. 

• Hubalkova P, Ladislav M, Vyklicky V, et al. Palmitoylation Controls NMDA Receptor Function and Steroid Sensitivity. J Neurosci. 2021;41(10):2119-2134. 

• Hrcka Krausova B, Kysilov B, Cerny J, et al. Site of Action of Brain Neurosteroid Pregnenolone Sulfate at the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor. J Neurosci. 2020;40(31):5922-5936. 

• Tumanovska LV, Swanson RJ, Serebrovska ZO, et al. Cholesterol enriched diet suppresses ATF6 and PERK and upregulates the IRE1 pathways of the unfolded protein response in spontaneously hypertensive rats: Relevance to pathophysiology of atherosclerosis in the setting of hypertension. Pathophysiology. 2019;26(3-4):219-226. 

• Vyklicky V, Krausova B, Cerny J, et al. Surface Expression, Function, and Pharmacology of Disease-Associated Mutations in the Membrane Domain of the Human GluN2B Subunit. Front Mol Neurosci. 2018;11:110.

Position: Postdoctoral Associate

Advisor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Education:

• BFA Marymount Manhattan College

• MS Biomedical Sciences - Physiology & Biophysics, Stony Brook University

• Ph.D. Neuroscience, Stony Brook University

Research Interest: My master’s research focused on adult neurogenesis and repair after traumatic brain injury. My dissertation research focused on the molecular and cellular processes of neurodevelopment, especially neurogenesis, as well as comparative and evolutionary neuroscience. The goal of my research was, and is, to understand how receptor-signaling mechanisms, especially that of the NMDA receptor, during embryonic and postembryonic neurogenesis give rise to neurodevelopmental disorders and how those mechanisms might be harnessed for therapeutic purposes to treat both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. In my postdoc, I am exploring the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders in an additional developmental tissue, the neural crest. This work unites and synthesizes all my prior scientific research into a cohesive picture of developmental dysregulation and disease.

My diverse scientific background has informed my research with a holistic perspective on organismal biology and its relationship to function and disease. One of the strengths I bring to my research team is my innovative and integrative thinking that involves searching out novel roads of scientific inquiry and asking questions that strive to unify disparate scientific findings. This approach has led to several unique discoveries and promising avenues of research into the etiology and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Publications:

• Napoli, A.J. and Wollmuth, L.P.(in prep) ‘The unrecognized contribution of neural crest to neurodevelopmental disorders’.

• Napoli, A.J. et al. (in prep) ‘A novel role for NMDA receptors in neural crest development’.

• Napoli, A.J. and Powers, A.S.(invited paper in prep) ‘The importance of being glial’, Brain, Behavior, and Evolution.

• Napoli, A.J., Laderwager, S.,Zoodsma, J.D., Biju,B., Mucollari, O., Schubel, S., Aprea, C., Sayed, A., Morgan, K., Napoli, A., Flanagan, S., Wollmuth, L.P., Sirotkin, H.I. (2024) ‘Developmental loss of NMDA receptors results in supernumerary forebrain neurons through delayed maturation of transit-amplifying neuroblasts’, Scientific Reports, 14:3395, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-53910-7

• Josiah Zoodsma, Emma Keegan, Ashwin A. Bhandiwad, Amalia J. Napoli, Harold A. Burgess, Lonnie P. Wollmuth, and Howard I. Sirotkin (2022) ‘Disruption of grin2B, an ASD-associated gene, produces social deficits in zebrafish’, Molecular Autism, 13:38. Doi:10.1186/s13229-022-00516-3

• Napoli, A. J. and Powers, A. S. (2020) ‘Brain Evolution and Comparative Neuroanatomy’, eLS, (July), pp. 1–14. doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000088.pub4.

• Zoodsma, J.D., Chan, K., Bhandiwad, A.A., Golann, D.R., Liu, G., Syed, S.A., Napoli, A.J., Burgess, H.A., Sirotkin, H.I., Wollmuth, L.P. (2020) ‘A model to study NMDA receptors in early nervous system development’, Journal of Neuroscience, 40(18), pp. 3631–3645. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3025-19.2020.

Position: PhD Student

Advisor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Program: Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology

Education:

Research Interest:

Publications:

Position: MD/PhD Student

Advisor: Dr. Markus Reissland

Co-Mentor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Program: MSTP - Neuroscience

Education:

Research Interest:

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Position: Masters Student

Advisor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Program: Neuroscience

Position: Masters Student

Advisor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Program: Physiology & Biophysics

Position: Masters Student

Advisor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth

Program: Physiology & Biophysics