Meyer B. Jackson, PhD

Research Interests

The broad goal of my research is to understand electrical signaling in the nervous system. The specific area that has occupied most of my attention for more than 15 years is how neurons release neurotransmitter. We use electrical and optical techniques to study the ion channels in nerve terminals, Ca2+ signaling, and the exocytotic apparatus. Our experimental systems range from cultured cell lines to brain slices.

To investigate exocytosis at the molecular level we use PC12 cells, performing molecular manipulations and analyzing the kinetics of exocytosis with carbon fiber amperometry. Amperometry is an especially powerful method for such studies, allowing us to resolve the flux of norepinephrine through single fusion pores. In conjunction with molecular manipulations of the proteins expressed in PC12 cells, we were able to show that synaptotagmin, the putative calcium sensor of exocytosis, regulates the stability of the fusion pore. We have since found that calcium and synaptotagmin accelerate both the formation and the dilation of fusion pores. Furthermore, by analyzing the flux through the fusion pore, we were able to show that the membrane anchor of syntaxin is a structural component of the fusion pore.

We are presently extending our structural view of the fusion pore and elucidating the mechanism of calcium-triggered exocytosis. The general theme of much of this work is applying biophysical principles derived from ion channel function to the fusion pore of exocytosis. Efforts are underway to develop methods for performing parallel manipulations and analyzing fusion pores at synapses between neurons. The insights derived from PC12 cells guide us in formulating hypotheses and designing experiments.

Honors & Awards

• WARF Professorship
• Kenneth S. Cole Award- Biophysical Society

Selected Publications

• Jackson, M. B. The Hydrophobic Effect in Solute Partitioning and Interfacial Tension. Scientific Reports. 6:19265 (2016).
• Chang, C. W., Chiang, C. W., Gaffaney, J. D., Chapman, E. R., Jackson, M. B. Lipid-anchored synaptobrevin provides little or no support for exocytosis or liposome fusion. J Biol Chem.  291: 2848-57 (2016).
• McMahon, S. M. and Jackson, M. B. Multiple Cytosolic Calcium Buffers in Posterior Pituitary Nerve Terminals. J Gen Physiol. 147: 243-54 (2016).
• Ghitani, N., Bayguinov, P. O., Basso, M. A., Jackson, M. B. A Sodium Afterdepolarization in Rat Superior Colliculus Neurons and its Contribution to Population Activity. J Neurophysiol. 116: 191-200 (2016).
• Ma, Y., Bayguinov, P. O., Jackson, M. B. Action Potential Dynamics in Fine Axons Probed with an Axonally-Targeted Optical Voltage Sensor. eNeuro 4: e0146-17 (2017).
• Bayguinov, P. O., Ma, Y., Gao, Y., Zhao, X., Jackson, M. B. Imaging Voltage in Genetically-Defined Neuronal Subpopulations with a Cre Recombinase-Targeted Hybrid Voltage Sensor. J Neurosci 37:9305-19 (2017). Cover image.
• Chiang, C. W., Chang, C. W., Jackson, M. B. The Transmembrane Domain of Synaptobrevin Influences Neurotransmitter Flux Through Synaptic Fusion Pores. J Neurosci 38:7179-7191 (2018). Cover image.
• Jackson, M. B. Hsiao, Y.-T., and Chang, C.-W. Fusion Pore Expansion and Contraction During Catecholamine Release from Endocrine Cells. Biophys. J. 119: 219-231 (2020).
• Jackson, M. B. Hebbian and non-Hebbian Timing-Dependent Plasticity in the Hippocampal CA3 region. Hippocampus (in press).