Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry
(cross-appointed with Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology)
Office: 454 Medical Sciences Centre
Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 85141
Fax: 519-663-3936
Email: wrushlow@uwo.ca
Research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms responsible for the symptoms of Schizophrenia as well as understanding how antipsychotics are able to alleviate certain symptoms of the disease. The goal is to identify key signalling pathways and proteins that are responsible for the manifestation and amelioration of the symptoms of schizophrenia in order to develop better pharmaceuticals for treatment of the disorder. Modern neuroscience techniques are employed including Western blotting, immunoprecipitation, conventional PCR, Real-time PCR, immunocytochemistry, Genechips, Protein Chips, kinase/phosphatase assays, cell culture, animal models and behavioural assays.
• Sin, W.C., Bates, D.C., McLeod, T.L., Bechberger, J.F., Rushlow, W.J. and Naus, C.C. (2008). Co-regulation of CCN1/Cyr61 and CCN3/NOV in C6 glioma cells expressing gap junction protein connexin43. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 103: 1772-1782.
• Lee, J., Rushlow, W.J. and Rajakumar, N. (2007). L-type Calcium Channel Blockade on Haloperidol Signaling. Neuroscience 149: 602-616.
• Sutton, L., Rajakumar, N. and Rushlow, W.J. (2007). Activation of the canonical Wnt pathway by the antipsychotics haloperidol and clozapine involves dishevelled-3. J. Neurochem. 102: 153-169.
• Small, T.W., Bolender, Z., Bueno, C., O'Neil, C., Rushlow, W.J., Rajakumar, N. and Pickering, J.G. (2006). Wilm's tumour 1-associating protein regulates the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. Circulation Research 99: 1338-1346.
• Belliveau, D.J., Bani-Yaghoub, McGirr, B., Naus, C.C.G. and Rushlow, W.J. (2006). Enhanced neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells mediated by connexin hemi-channels and ATP. JBC 281: 20920-20931.
• Cushing, P., Bhalla, R., Johnson, A.M., Rushlow, W.J., Meakin, S.O. and Belliveau, D.J. (2005) Nerve growth factor increases connexin43 phosphorylation and gap junctional intercellular communication. J. Neurosci. Res. 82: 788-801.
• Alimohamad, H., Sutton, L., Mouyal, J. Rajakumar, N. and Rushlow, W.J. (2005). The effects of antipsychotics on beta-catenin, glycogen synthase kinase-3 and dishevelled in the ventral midbrain of rats. J. Neurochem. 95: 513-525.
• Rushlow, W.J., Seah, Y.H., Belliveau, D.J. and Rajakumar, N. (2005) Changes in Calcineurin expression induced in the rat brain by the administration of antipsychotics. J. Neurochem. 94: 587-96.
• Alimohamad, H., Mouyal, J., Rajakumar, N., Seah, Y.H. and Rushlow, W.J. (2005). Antipsychotics alter the expression level of Wnt signal transduction proteins. Biol. Psychiatry 57: 533-542.
• Rajakumar, N., Leung, S.L., Ma, J., Rajakumar, B. and Rushlow, W.J. (2004). Altered neurotrophin function in the developing prefrontal cortex leads to adult onset dopaminergic hyperresponsivity and impaired prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle. Biol. Psychiatry 55: 797-803