Gerry Downes

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Downes received his bachelor's degree in biology at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and his PhD in neuroscience with Narasimhan Gautam at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He then moved to Philadelphia and performed a postdoctoral fellowship with Michael Granato at the University of Pennsylvania between 1999 and 2005. He started as an assistant professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2005, and was promoted to associate professor in 2012.

During his postdoctoral fellowship Downes started to work with the zebrafish (Danio rerio) model system. Zebrafish make a great model organism for neuroscience research because they develop quickly and are transparent so their brains and brain development can be easily observed.{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Elizabeth|date=2016-08-08|title=Why Use Zebrafish to Study Human Diseases?|url=https://irp.nih.gov/blog/post/2016/08/why-use-zebrafish-to-study-human-diseases|access-date=2020-09-19|website=NIH Intramural Research Program|language=en}} Furthermore, there are considerable similarity in the genes and pathways involved in brain development between humans and zebrafish.{{Cite journal|last1=Monesson-Olson|first1=Bryan|last2=McClain|first2=Jon J.|last3=Case|first3=Abigail E.|last4=Dorman|first4=Hanna E.|last5=Turkewitz|first5=Daniel R.|last6=Steiner|first6=Aaron B.|last7=Downes|first7=Gerald B.|date=2018|title=Expression of the eight GABAA receptor α subunits in the developing zebrafish central nervous system|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=13|issue=4|pages=e0196083|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0196083|issn=1932-6203|pmc=5922542|pmid=29702678|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1396083M|doi-access=free }} As a postdoctoral fellow, Downes helped develop a method, stochastic labeling, to track the development of individual neurons in intact zebrafish using green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is essential for understanding how neurons grow directionally and form connections in the nervous system.{{Cite journal|last1=Downes|first1=Gerald B.|last2=Waterbury|first2=Julie A.|last3=Granato|first3=Michael|date=November 2002|title=Rapid in vivo labeling of identified zebrafish neurons|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12395384/|journal=Genesis |volume=34|issue=3|pages=196–202|doi=10.1002/gene.10120|issn=1526-954X|pmid=12395384|s2cid=8656186}} He also started to work on a class of zebrafish mutants that exhibit abnormal swimming behaviors that were isolated from a previous genetic screen.{{Cite journal|last=Nüsslein-Volhard|first=Christiane|date=November 2012|title=The zebrafish issue of Development|journal=Development|volume=139|issue=22|pages=4099–4103|doi=10.1242/dev.085217|issn=1477-9129|pmid=23093421|s2cid=7854819|doi-access=free}} When he started work on this project the identities of the underlying genes weren't known. However, his work showed that mutations in the neurotransmitter-degrading enzyme acetylcholinesterase cause abnormal swimming behavior in one line of mutant zebrafish.{{Cite journal|date=2004-06-01|title=Acetylcholinesterase function is dispensable for sensory neurite growth but is critical for neuromuscular synapse stability|journal=Developmental Biology|language=en|volume=270|issue=1|pages=232–245|doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2004.02.027|issn=0012-1606|last1=Downes|first1=Gerald B.|last2=Granato|first2=Michael|pmid=15136152|doi-access=free}} In collaboration with John Kuwada's laboratory at the University of Michigan, they also discovered mutations in a zebrafish glycine receptor underlie abnormal swimming in another line of zebrafish{{Cite journal|last1=Hirata|first1=Hiromi|last2=Saint-Amant|first2=Louis|last3=Downes|first3=Gerald B.|last4=Cui|first4=Wilson W.|last5=Zhou|first5=Weibin|last6=Granato|first6=Michael|last7=Kuwada|first7=John Y.|date=2005-06-07|title=Zebrafish bandoneon mutants display behavioral defects due to a mutation in the glycine receptor beta-subunit|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=102|issue=23|pages=8345–8350|doi=10.1073/pnas.0500862102|issn=0027-8424|pmc=1149420|pmid=15928085|bibcode=2005PNAS..102.8345H|doi-access=free }}

At the University of Massachusetts, Downes continued his work on zebrafish mutants that exhibit abnormal swimming behavior. His group identified mutations in a muscle cell calcium pump critical for muscle relaxation,{{Cite journal|last1=Olson|first1=Bryan D.|last2=Sgourdou|first2=Paraskevi|last3=Downes|first3=Gerald B.|date=June 2010|title=Analysis of a zebrafish behavioral mutant reveals a dominant mutation in atp2a1/SERCA1|journal=Genesis |volume=48|issue=6|pages=354–361|doi=10.1002/dvg.20631|issn=1526-968X|pmc=2885577|pmid=20533403}} a mitochondrial enzyme required to break down a subset of amino acids,{{Cite journal|last1=Friedrich|first1=Timo|last2=Lambert|first2=Aaron M.|last3=Masino|first3=Mark A.|last4=Downes|first4=Gerald B.|date=March 2012|title=Mutation of zebrafish dihydrolipoamide branched-chain transacylase E2 results in motor dysfunction and models maple syrup urine disease|journal=Disease Models & Mechanisms|volume=5|issue=2|pages=248–258|doi=10.1242/dmm.008383|issn=1754-8411|pmc=3291646|pmid=22046030}} and a neurotransmitter transporter{{Cite journal|last1=McKeown|first1=Kelly Anne|last2=Moreno|first2=Rosa|last3=Hall|first3=Victoria L.|last4=Ribera|first4=Angeles B.|last5=Downes|first5=Gerald B.|date=2012-02-15|title=Disruption of Eaat2b, a glutamate transporter, results in abnormal motor behaviors in developing zebrafish|journal=Developmental Biology|volume=362|issue=2|pages=162–171|doi=10.1016/j.ydbio.2011.11.001|issn=1095-564X|pmc=4013685|pmid=22094018}} from three different lines of zebrafish mutants. These zebrafish mutants parallel and serve as new animal models for Brody's Disease, a severe muscle weakness disorder; Maple Syrup Urine Disease, a metabolic disorder that can cause severe neurological damage,{{Cite journal|last=Roberts|first=Nathan B.|date=July 2012|title=Maple syrup urine disease: new insights from a zebrafish model|journal=Disease Models & Mechanisms|volume=5|issue=4|pages=417–418|doi=10.1242/dmm.010272|issn=1754-8411|pmc=3380704|pmid=22730471}} and a generalized epilepsy disorder.

Downes is continuing to lead a team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts, who focus on determining the genes and neural networks involved in movement. Downes' laboratory is also working to better understand and developing new treatments for epilepsies.{{cite web|website=Downes Laboratory|title=Research|publisher=UMass Amherst|url=https://www.downeslab.org/research/}}

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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

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Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty

Category:Johnson C. Smith University alumni

Category:Washington University in St. Louis alumni

Category:American neuroscientists

Category:21st-century American biologists