Modulation of Microglial Function by ATP-Gated P2X7 Receptors: Studies in Rat, Mice and Human

Terrance M. Egan is an emeritus professor at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. He received his B.S. in Pharmacy from Creighton University and his Ph.D. in Neural and Endocrine Control from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, USA. From 1984 to 1986, he was a post-doctoral research fellow of physiology at the University of Oxford, UK. He was also a post-doctoral research fellow at Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie in Martinsried, Germany from 1987 to 1988. Additionally, he worked as a post-doctoral research fellow in biochemistry at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA, USA, from 1988 to 1991 and as a post-doctoral research fellow in cardiology and physiology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, MA, USA, from 1991 to 1992. He mainly studies the structure and function of ATP-gated ion channels. More recently, his work involves the study of the physiology and pharmacology of primary human microglia and macrophages maintained in culture and tissue slices. He is particularly interested in the ability of purines to initiate and/or modulate the innate immune response in these cells, with particular emphasis on the role of ATP and P2X7 receptor ion channels. His lab used a range of techniques, including voltage-clamp electrophysiology (to study transmembrane currents), patch-clamp photometry (to quantify changes in intracellular calcium), immunocytochemistry, and methods of molecular biology.