Texas A&M-Commerce - Dr. Michael C. Hanna

Dr. Michael C. Hanna
Biological and Environmental Sciences
Texas A&M University-Commerce
P.O. Box 3011, Commerce, TX 75429
Michael_Hanna@tamu-commerce.edu
903.468.6064

Education

Pharmacology Research Associate Training Research (PRAT) Award Fellowship, Cellular Neurobiology & Disease, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) Fellowship, Cellular Neurobiology & Disease, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, MD
Ph.D., 2004, Neuroscience, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
M.Sc., 2001, Neuroscience, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
M.Sc., 1997, Biotechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
B.Sc., 1992, Dual Major in Biology and Psychology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

Teaching

BSc 106: Man and His Environment (syllabus attached)
BSc 107: Human Biology Structure and Function (syllabus attached)
BSc 301: Biological Literature and Techniques (syllabus attached)
BSc 305: General Physiology (syllabus attached)
BSc 420: Immunology (syllabus attached)
BSc 423: Introduction to Endocrinology (syllabus attached) - Long Semester
BSc 425: Fundamentals of Neuroscience (syllabus attached)
BSc 515 Advanced Cellular Biology (syllabus attached) - Summer or Short Semester
BSc 597: Advanced Cell Biology (syllabus attached) - Summer or Short Semester
BSc 597: Advanced Neuroscience (syllabus attached)
BSc 597: Vertebrate Endocrinology (syllabus attached) - Summer or Short Semester
BSc 597: Pharmacology: Principles and Practice (syllabus attached) - Summer or Short Semester
BSc 597: Genetic Analysis and Investigation (syllabus attached)

Research Interests

Hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) comprise a cluster of incapacitating neurological disorders characterized predominantly by lower extremity weakness and spasticity, sometimes accompanied by dementia or other neurological impairments (reviewed in Soderblom and Blackstone, 2006). One form of HSP, Mast syndrome (SPG21), is caused by mutation in the ACP33/maspardin gene, which encodes a protein of unknown function (Simpson et al., 2003). While ACP33/maspardin is widely expressed in neurons and non-neuronal cells, its depletion leads to relatively specific degeneration of the distal axons in the long ascending dorsal column and descending corticospinal tracts in the spinal cord. The mechanisms for this length-dependent distal degeneration remain unknown. However, of the 17 identified HSP gene products, at least 11 have been implicated in mechanisms of disease pathogenesis via abnormal vesicle trafficking and endocytosis, though in most cases direct evidence is lacking (Soderblom and Blackstone, 2006).

My long-term research goal is to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying causes for neurodegenerative disorders. My specific objectives in this project are to begin to define the normal cellular role of ACP33/maspardin, to investigate how loss of its function contributes to distal degeneration in long axons. We hypothesize that ACP33/maspardin is required for the proper trafficking of endocytic vesicles, and that the loss of this protein in neurons alters mechanisms of endocytosis, ultimately resulting in axonal degeneration. The rationale for these studies is that identifying ACP33/maspardin’s function will give insights into the underlying pathogenic mechanisms responsible for Mast syndrome (SPG21), thus increasing the potential for developing strategies for disease prevention or treatment. We are especially well-prepared to undertake this project since we have already designed and created highly specific anti-ACP33/maspardin polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. In addition, we have successfully generated the only known ACP33/maspardin knock out mouse.

Our laboratory investigates the pathogenesis of Mast syndrome using cutting edge molecular and cellular techniques including PCR, RT-PCR, Western analysis, immunoprecipitation, pull down assays, yeast two-hybrid, confocal microscopy, heterologous and primary cell culture, gene chip and FACS analyses and behavioral paradigms

Research Publications and Presentations

Publications

Soderblom, C., Stadler, J., Jupille, H., Blackstone, C., Shupliakov, O., and Hanna, M.C. (2010) Targeted disruption of the Mast syndrome gene SPG21 in mice impairs hind limb function and alters axon branching in cultured cortical neurons. Neurogenetics 11(4): 369-378

Hanna MC, Blackstone C. (2009) Interaction of the SPG21 protein ACP33/maspardin with the aldehyde dehydrogenase ALDH16A1. Neurogenetics 10(3): 217-228.

Hanna, M.C. and Calkins, D.J. (2007) Expression of Genes Encoding Glutamate Receptors and Transporters in Rod and Cone Bipolar Cells of the Primate Retina Determined by Single-Cell PCR. Mol. Vis. 13: 2194-21208.

Hanna, M.C. and Calkins, D.J. (2006) Expression and sequences of genes encoding glutamate receptors and transporters in primate retina determined using 3'-end amplification polymerase chain reaction. Mol. Vis. 12: 961-976.

Hanna, M.C., Davies, P.A., Hales, T.G., Kirkness, E.F. (2000) Evidence for expression of heteromeric serotonin 5-HT3 receptors in rodents. J. Neurochem., 75: 240-247.

Sinkkonen, S.T., Hanna, M.C., Kirkness, E.F. and Korpi, E.R. (2000) GABAA receptor e and q subunits display unusual structural variation between species and are enriched in the rat locus ceruleus. J. Neurosci, 20: 3588-3595.

Davies PA, Pistis M, Hanna, M.C., Peters, J.A., Lambert, J.J., Hales, T.G. and Kirkness, E.F. (1999) The 5-HT3B subunit is a major determinant of serotonin-receptor function. Nature, 397: 359-363.

Hanna, M.C., Turner, A.J. and Kirkness, E.F. (1997) Human pyridoxal kinase: cDNA cloning, expression, and modulation by ligands of the benzodiazepine receptor. J. Biol. Chem., 272: 10756-10760.

Davies, P.A., Hanna, M.C., Hales, T.G. and Kirkness, E.F. (1997) Insensitivity to anesthetic agents conferred by a novel class of GABAA receptor subunit. Nature, 385: 820-823.

Hanna, MC, Platts, J.T. and Kirkness, E.F. (1997) Identification of a gene within the tandem array of red and green color pigment genes. Genomics, 43: 384-386.

CJ Bult, O White, GJ Olsen, L Zhou, RD Fleischmann, GG Sutton, JA Blake, LM FitzGerald, RA Clayton, JD Gocayne, AR Kerlavage, BA Dougherty, JF Tomb, MD Adams, CI Reich, R Overbeek, EF Kirkness, KG Weinstock, JM Merrick, A Glodek, JL Scott, NSM Geoghagen, JF Weidman, JL Fuhrmann, D Nguyen, TR Utterback, JM Kelley, JD Peterson, PW Sadow, MC Hanna, MD Cotton, KM Roberts, MA Hurst, BP Kaine, M Borodovsky, HP Klenk, CM Fraser, HO Smith, CR Woese, and JC Venter (1996) Complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii. Science, 273: 1058-1073.

Fleischmann RD, Adams MD, White O, Clayton RA, Kirkness EF, Kerlavage AR, Bult CJ, Tomb JF, Dougherty BA, Merrick JM, McKenney K, Sutton G, FitzHugh W, Fields C, Gocayne JD, Scott J, Shirley R, Liu LI, Glodek A, Kelley JM, Weidman JF, Phillips CA, Spriggs T, Hedblom E, Cotton MD, Utterback TR, Hanna MC, Nguyen DT, Saudek DM, Brandon RC, Fine LD, Fritchman JL, Fuhrmann JL, Geoghagen NSM, Gnehm CL, McDonald LA, Small KV, Fraser CM, Smith HO, and Venter JC (1995) Whole-genome shotgun sequencing and assembly of Haemophilus influenzae Rd. Science, 269: 496-512.

Adams MD, Kerlavage AR, Fleischmann RD, Fuldner RA, Bult CJ, Lee NH, Kirkness EF, Weinstock KG, Gocayne JD, White O, Sutton G, BlakeJA, Brandon RC Chiu MW, Clayton RA, Cline RT, Cotton MD, Earle-Hughes J, Fine LD, FitzGerald LM, FitzHugh WM, Fritchman JL, Geoghagen NSM, Glodek A, Gnehm CL, Hanna MC, Hedblom E, Hinkle PS, Kelley JM, Klimek KM, Kelly JC, Liu LI, Marmaros SM, Merrick JM, Moreno-Palanques RF, McDonald LA, Nguyen DT, Pellegrino SM, Phillips CA, Ryder SE, Scott JL, Saudek DM, Shirley R, Small KV, Spriggs TA, Utterback TR, Weidman JF, Li Y, Barthlow R, Bednarik DP, Cao L, Cepeda MA, Coleman TA, Collins EJ, Dimke D, Feng P, Ferrie A, Fischer C, Hastings GA, He WW, Hu JS, Huddleston KA, Greene JM, Gruber J, Hudson P, Kim A, Kozak DJ, Kunsch C, Hungjun J, Li H, Meissner PS, Olsen H, Raymond L, Wei YF, Wing J, Xu C, Yu GL, Ruben SM, Dillon PJ, Fannon MR, Rosen CA, Haseltine WA, Fields C, Fraser CM, Venter JC (1995) Initial assessment of human gene diversity and expression patterns based upon 52 million basepairs of cDNA sequence. Nature, 377 SUPP: 3-174.

Presentations

2005-2007 Pharmacology Research Associate Training Research Distinguished Speaker Series

2009 Texas A&M University-Annual Research Symposium (First Place Faculty Division)

2009 University of Texas at Tyler-Graduate Student Symposium

2011 Texas A&M University-College Station-Institute for Neuroscience Lecture Series

2011 Texas A&M-Commerce-Annual Research Symposium (First Place Faculty Division)

Service

2006 Judge, NINDS Fellows Award for Research Excellence (FARE) Awards (Neurology)

2008 Judge, TAMUS Pathways Student Research Symposium

2008-Pres Member of the Texas A&M-Commerce IACUC committee

2008-Pres Member of the Texas A&M-Commerce Pre-medical advisory committee

2008-Pres Member of the Texas A&M-Commerce Deparment of Biological and Environmental Sciences Graduate
School advisory committee

2009-Pres Member of the Texas A&M-Commerce IBC committee

2009-Pres Texas A&M-Commerce Tri-Beta Faculty Advisor

2010 Panelist for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Program competition

2010-Pres Undergraduate Grant Review Committee

2010-pres STC Process and Review Committee

2010-pres

Supervisory Experience

Undergraduate:

Time Period	Student	Type of Supervison
2006-2007	Sherry Yang:	NINDS/NIH High School student
	Currently enrolled as an undergraduate at Yale University
2007-2008	Henri Jupille:	NINDS/NIH Post-Bac Fellow
	Currently enrolled at the University of Colorado Graduate program in Immunology
2007-2008	Michelle Felker	Marymount University Undergrad Research
2008	Sarah Yang	NINDS/NIH High School student
2008-2009	Penny Stark	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
2008-2009	Solomon Bortey:	Texas A&M-Commerce Honors Thesis
	Donald Ingold Endowment; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF); Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi S-Stem Scholarship winner Graduated with Honors, December 2009
2009-2010	Molly Jacobsen	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
	Donald Ingold Endowment; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Justus Brown Cameron & Nannie Day Cameron Endowment; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Named Texas A&M University-Commerce College of Arts & Sciences Student Ambassador. Currently enrolled at the Texas A&M-Commerce Graduate Program in Biology
2009-2010	Jamie Lockwood	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
	Arthur M. Pullen Scholarship; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Dr. Elise Bodemann Memorial Biology Endowment; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences. Named Texas A&M University-Commerce College of Arts & Sciences Student Ambassador. S-Stem Scholarship winner Alpha Chi National Academic Honors Society Successful Cloning and Subsequent Mammalian and Bacterial Expression Profiles for ALDH16A1 Functional Characterization. (*Poster Presentation; won an award for best undergraduate poster at this symposium)
2009-2010	Randall Fuller	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
	S-Stem Scholarship winner
2009-2010	Savanah Brookins	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
	Alton Biggs Scholarship winner; Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP) Participant S-Stem Scholarship winner
2009-2010	Mary Mason	Texas A&M-Commerce Honors Thesis
2009	Josh Huckabee	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
2009-2010	Michael Higgins	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Researcher
2010	Andrew Greutman	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Volunteer
2010	Isabel Duran	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
2010	Lauren Bailey	Texas A&M-Commerce Undergrad Research
2010	Ashley Westerman	Texas A&M-Commerce Honors Thesis

Graduate:

Time Period	Student	Type of Supervison
2009-2010	Sree Gundappa	Texas A&M-Commerce Graduate Advisor
2010	Anne Davenport	Texas A&M-Commerce Graduate Advisor
	S-STEM Scholarship winner
2010	Qiyan Fu	Texas A&M-Commerce Graduate Advisor
2010	Molly Jacobsen	Texas A&M-Commerce Graduate Advisor
	S-STEM and Continuing the Pride Scholarship winner
2010	Christie Singbusch	Texas A&M-Commerce Graduate Advisor
	Summer Graduate Research Fellowship winner

Honors and Funding

1999 - The Merritt and Majorie Cleveland Fellowship Award for Outstanding Neuroscience Graduate Student, University of Rochester
1999-2000 - NIH Student Training Grant Award: Interdepartmental Neuroscience Training – T32NS074891999, University of Rochester
2000-2001 - Center for Visual Science Training Grant Award, University of Rochester
2001 - The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology/ Retina Research Foundation/ Lawrence Travel Fellowship Grant, University of Rochester
2001-2002 - Center for Visual Science Training Grant Award, University of Rochester
2003 - Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA), NINDS, National Institutes of Health
2004-2007 - Pharmacology Research Associate Training Research (PRAT) Award, NIGMS, National Institutes of Health
2008 - Texas A&M University-Commerce Office of Graduate Studies and Research Mini-grant Program
2009 - Texas A&M University-Commerce Annual Research Symposium, 1st Place Faculty Division
2009-2010 - Texas A&M University-Commerce Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Faculity Research Enhancement Competition
2010-2011 - Texas A&M University-Commerce Office of Graduate Studies and Research, Faculty Research Enhancement Competition