AJ Baucum, PhD

Bio

Training

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine - Postdoctoral Fellow 06/2006 - 07/2011

University of Utah - Postdoctoral Training 06/2004 - 05/2006

Positions

Indiana University School of Medicine - Associate Professor Pharmacology and Toxicology - 07/2021 - Present

Indiana University School of Medicine - Primary Faculty Stark Neurociences Research Institute - 08/2013-Present

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine - Research Instructor 08/2011 - 07/2013

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis - Associate Professor of Biology - 08/2019-06/2021

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis - Assistant Professor of Biology - 08/2013-07/2019

Key Publications

Stickel KC, Mosley AL, Doud EH, Belecky-Adams TL, Baucum AJ. Mechanisms of spinophilin-dependent pancreas dysregulation underlying diabesity. bioRxiv. 2023:2023.02.07.527495. doi: 10.1101/2023.02.07.527495.

Salek AB, Claeboe ET, Bansal R, Berbari NF, Baucum AJ, 2nd. Spinophilin dependent regulation of GluN2B-containing NMDAR-dependent calcium influx, GluN2B surface expression, and cleaved caspase expression. Synapse. 2023. Epub 2023/02/05. doi: 10.1002/syn.22264. PubMed PMID: 36738175.

Morris CW, Watkins DS, Shah NR, Pennington T, Hens B, Qi G, Doud EH, Mosley AL, Atwood BK, Baucum AJ, 2nd. Spinophilin Limits Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 5 Scaffolding to the Postsynaptic Density and Cell Type Specifically Mediates Excessive Grooming. Biological psychiatry. 2022. Epub 2023/02/24. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.12.008. PubMed PMID: 36822932.

Salek AB, Edler MC, McBride JP, Baucum AJ 2nd. (2019). Spinophilin regulates phosphorylation and interactions of the GluN2B subunit of the N-methyl-D-asparate receptor. J Neurochem. Oct; 151(2): 185-203.

Watkins DS, True JD, Mosley AL, Baucum AJ 2nd. (2018). Proteomic analysis of the spinophilin interactome in rodent striatum following psychostimulant sensitization. Proteomes. Dec 17;6(4). Pii: E53.

Morris CW, Watkins DS, Salek AB, Edler MC, Baucum AJ 2nd. The association of spinophilin with disks large-associated protein 3 (SAPAP3) is regulated by metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) 5. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. 2018 Jun 14;90:60-69

Edler MC, Salek AB, Watkins DS, Kaur H, Morris CW, Yamamoto BK, Baucum II AJ. (2018). Mechanisms regulating the association of protein phosphatase 1 with spinophilin and neurabin. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2018 Jun 1.

Hiday AC, Edler MC, Salek AB, Morris CW, Thang M, Rentz TJ, Rose KL, Jones LM, and Baucum 2^nd AJ. (2017) Mechanisms and consequences of dopamine depletion-induced attenuation of the spinophilin/neurofilament medium interaction. Neural Plasticity 2017, 4153076

Baucum 2^nd AJ, Brown AM, Colbran RJ (2013). Differential association of postsynaptic signaling protein complexes in striatum and hippocampus. Journal of Neurochemistry. 124(4):490-501. PMCID: PMC3557548

Baucum 2^nd AJ, Strack S, and Colbran RJ (2012). Age-Dependent Targeting of Protein Phosphatase 1 to Ca²⁺/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II by Spinophilin in Mouse Striatum. PLoS One. 7(2):e31554. PMCID: PMC3278457

For complete list

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/browse/collection/43307736/?sort=date&direction=descending

Titles & Appointments

Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Associate Professor of Biology
Adjunct Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Primary Faculty Stark Neurosciences Research Institute

Education

2004 PhD University of Utah

1999 BS Loyola Marymount University
Research

I started my independent career at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in the Biology Department in 2013. I was promoted to Associate Professor of Biology in 2019 and moved to the department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in July, 2021. My independent research program focuses on signaling changes in the striatum under different pathological conditions. Specifically, I want to understand the function of the protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) interacting protein, spinophilin in the direct and indirect pathway medium spiny neurons of the striatum. Protein phosphatases, such as PP1, obtain substrate specificity by targeting proteins. Spinophilin is the most abundant PP1 interacting protein in the PSD and is thought to be a critical hub protein that coordinates the phosphorylation and function of myriad synaptic proteins involved in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. Therefore, pathological changes in the association of spinophilin with PP1 and PP1 substrates will greatly influence the function of this critical phosphatase. I am well-versed in biochemical, molecular biological, imaging, proteomic, and electrophysiological methods to identify and characterize spinophilin interactions and function. Our previous studies have identified multiple spinophilin interacting proteins that are regulated by alterations in dopamine signaling; however how spinophilin contributes to pathologies associated with psychostimulant drugs of abuse are unclear. As part of my NINDS funded K01 career development award, I created a novel transgenic mouse line that Cre-dependently expresses spinophilin in specific cell types when crossed to cell-specific Cre driver lines. In addition, we have generated floxed spinophilin mice that will allow us to knockout spinophilin in specific cell types. Together, these tools will allow us to delineate the functional and biochemical role of spinophilin in modulating response to altered dopamine signaling in the striatum. Moreover, we are currently delineating the cell-specific role of spinophilin on feeding behaviors and metabolism.

Research Labs

Faculty research at IU School of Medicine is transforming health. Details about the medical research being conducted in faculty labs throughout IU School of Medicine are available in the Research section of this site.

Faculty Labs