Marieta Heaton Marieta Heaton studies the molecular mechanisms underlying the nervous system anomalies produced by developmental alcohol exposure, which can lead to the fetal alcohol syndrome. Professor of Neuroscience Investigator, McKnight Brain Institute Training Postdoc - Research Division, North Carolina Department of Mental Health, Raleigh, NC Mentor: Ronald Oppenheim Ph.D. Physiological Psychology, NC State University, Raleigh, NC B.S. Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL Contact phone: 352.392.1185 office: MBI L3-179 lab: MBI L3-151 email:heaton@mbi.ufl.edu Developmental ethanol exposure leads to a wide array of structural and functional abnormalities in the central nervous system. Our research is concerned with ethanol-mediated molecular alterations which underlie or contribute to this anomalous development. Of particular interest are the roles of ethanol-induced alterations in neurotrophic factors (e.g., NGF, BDNF), apoptosis-related proteins (e.g., those of the Bcl-2 gene family), and oxidative processes (e.g., reactive oxygen species [ROS]; antioxidants) in these dysfunctions. These studies are carried out using fetal and neonatal rats, and transgenic and gene-deleted mice. Procedures in use include ELISA and Western blot protein assays, immunohistochemistry, stereological histological quantification, and ROS/antioxidant assays. Recent Publications Ethanol-induced reduction of neurotrophin secretion in neonatal rat cerebellar granule cells is mitigated by vitamin E. Heaton MB, Madorsky I, Paiva M, Siler-Marsiglio KI. Neurosci Lett. 2004 Nov 3;370(1):51-4. Protective mechanisms of Pycnogenol in ethanol-insulted cerebellar granule cells. Siler-Marsiglio KI, Paiva M, Madorsky I, Serrano Y, Neeley A, Heaton MB. J Neurobiol. 2004 Nov;61(2):267-76. Ethanol effects on neonatal rat cortex: comparative analyses of neurotrophic factors, apoptosis-related proteins, and oxidative processes during vulnerable and resistant periods. Heaton MB, Paiva M, Madorsky I, Shaw G. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 2003 Nov 12;145(2):249-62.