Dr. Lynne McAnelly earned her Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984. She did postdoctoral work with scientists at Texas A&M University and at UT from 1985 to 1987. From 1987 to 1991 she served as the Texas Department of Agriculture's biotechnology specialist. She is currently a research scientist in the lab of Dr. Harold Zakon in the Section of Neurobiology at UT and has taught in the Neural Systems and Behavior course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole MA since 1996.
My general interest is the neural basis of behavior with a specific focus on the means by which behavior depends on plasticity in the properties of the ion channels of the excitable membranes of nerve and muscle cells. The electrocommunication system of the weakly electric fish (see Harold Zakon) is an excellent model system for addressing questions regarding the cellular basis of behavior. These fish have evolved specialized organs for producing and detecting electric fields and use this capacity in prey detection, navigation and social communication. Simultaneous discharge of cells in the electric organ (electric organ discharge or EOD) produces an electric field around the fish. Frequency of the discharge, for example, conveys information to other fish about the senderÍs species, gender and possibly even its individual identity. However, the EOD is not static; frequency varies seasonally depending on the individualÍs breeding condition and EOD amplitude can show more transient variations either diurnally or in response to social encounters. Using two electrode voltage clamp, we have shown that changes in the EOD frequency and amplitude result directly from changes in the functioning of the sodium and potassium currents in the membrane of the electrocytes (cells of the electric organ). Steroid hormones, for example, alter the kinetics of the sodium currents. This serves to adjust the duration of the EOD pulse consistent with the changes in EOD frequency that are produced by steroids. Phosphorylation increases the amplitude of the sodium current, which then generates greater action potential amplitude; increase of AP amplitude simultaneously in a group of electrocytes results in increased EOD amplitude. For further information about the biophysics of electric organ cells, please refer to the following publications:
McAnelly, M.L. and H.H. Zakon. 2000. Coregulation of Voltage-Dependent Kinetics of Na+ and K+ Currents in Electric Organ. Journal of Neuroscience, 20: 3408-3414.
Zakon, H.H., M.L. McAnelly, G.T. Smith, K. Dunlap, G. Lopreato, J. Oestreich and W.P. Few. 1999. Plasticity of the electric organ discharge: implications for the regulation of ionic currents. Journal of Experimental Biology 202: 1409-1416.
Dunlap, K.D., McAnelly, M.L. and Zakon, H.H. 1997. Estrogen modifies an electrocommunication signal by altering the electrocyte sodium current in an electric fish, Sternopygus. Journal of Neuroscience 17:2869-2875.
McAnelly, M.L. and H. Zakon. 1996. Protein kinase A activation increases sodium current magnitude in the electric organ of Sternopygus. Journal of Neuroscience 16:4383-4388.
Ferrari, M., M.L. McAnelly and H.H. Zakon. 1994. Individual variation in and androgen modulation of the sodium current in electric organ. Journal of Neuroscience 15:4023-4032.