USC College Department of Biology

Faculty

Biological Sciences has more than 60 full-time faculty members, as well as more than 20 faculty with joint appointments and 15 visiting or adjunct professors. Among its many distinctions and honors, the Ph.D. program faculty includes two members of the National Academy of Sciences, four members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 18 holders of endowed chairs and professorships.

David Mckemy

Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences

Contact Information
E-mail: mckemy@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 821-5724
Office: HNB 228

LINKS
Personal Website

Education

B.S. Biochemistry, University of Nevada, Reno, 8/1991
Ph.D. Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology & Physiology, University of Nevada, Reno, 8/1999

Postdoctoral Training

Post-doctoral fellow, University of California, San Francisco, 11/01/1999-12/31/2003

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, 12/01/2004-
Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of California, San Francisco, 11/01/1999-12/31/2003
Research Technician, University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, 06/01/1991-08/31/1994
Research assistant, University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, 08/01/1989-05/01/1991

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

My laboratory is generally interested in the neurobiological logic behind our ability to detect touch and pain. These fundamental processes, termed somatosensation and nociception, respectively, allow for the detection of chemical, mechanical, and thermal stimuli, and can critically differentiate between innocuous and noxious stimuli. Peripheral sensory neurons are the principle sensors of these stimuli and convert these environmental cues into ascending neural activity. Research in my lab aims to understand the molecular and cellular basis of this fundamental sensory process. We and others have begun to identify the molecules that are the primary detectors of thermal and painful stimuli in the peripheral nervous system. Using natural products such as capsaicin, menthol, and mustard oil, the active components of hot chili peppers, mint, and wasabi, respectively, ion channels that mediate the psychophysical sensations of hot (TRPV1, TRPV2), cold (TRPM8), and pungency (TRPA1) were cloned. Indeed, a conserved cellular mechanism has emerged in which members of the TRP (transient receptor potential) family of ion channels are detectors of thermal and pungent stimuli in sensory afferents. To pursue our research interests, we use a combination of molecular, cellular, genetic, electrophysiological, and biochemical approaches in the laboratory to understand how these channels detect and transduce these discrete environmental stimuli. Specifically, we wish to understand how these channels are activated, what is their involvement in peripheral sensitization after injury or during disease, what are their roles in behavioral responses to environmental stimuli, and identify the neural networks involved in transmitting peripheral stimuli centrally. It is our hope that these studies will provide insights into the mechanisms that lead to the formation of aberrant activity of sensory neurons involved in the detection and transduction of these stimuli, thereby leading to the development of novel therapeutic targets that can be used to alleviate debilitating conditions associated with inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

Publications

Journal Article

Mandadi, S., Nakanishi, S. T., Takashima, Y., Dhaka, A., Patapoutian, A., McKemy, D. D., Whelan, P. J. (2009). Locomotor networks are targets of modulation by sensory transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 and transient receptor potential melastatin 8 channels. Neuroscience. Vol. 162 (4), pp. 1377-97.
Stucky, C. L., Dubin, A. E., Jeske, N. A., Malin, S. A., McKemy, D. D., Story, G. M. (2009). Roles of transient receptor potential channels in pain. Brain Res Rev. Vol. 60 (1), pp. 2-23.
Carr, R. W., Pianova, S., McKemy, D. D., Brock, J. A. (2009). Action potential initiation in the peripheral terminals of cold-sensitive neurones innervating the guinea-pig cornea. J Physiol. Vol. 587 (Pt 6), pp. 1249-64.
Daniels, R. L., Takashima, Y., McKemy, D. D. (2009). Activity of the neuronal cold sensor TRPM8 is regulated by phospholipase C via the phospholipid phosphoinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. J Biol Chem. Vol. 284 (3), pp. 1570-82.
Wang, Y. Y., Chang, R. B., Waters, H. N., McKemy, D. D., Liman, E. R. (2008). The nociceptor ion channel TRPA1 is potentiated and inactivated by permeating calcium ions. J Biol Chem. Vol. 283 (47), pp. 32691-703.
Takashima, Y., Daniels, R. L., Knowlton, W., Teng, J., Liman, E. R., McKemy, D. D. (2007). Diversity in the neural circuitry of cold sensing revealed by genetic axonal labeling of transient receptor potential melastatin 8 neurons. J Neurosci. Vol. 27 (51), pp. 14147-57.
Daniels, R. L., McKemy, D. D. (2007). Mice left out in the cold: commentary on the phenotype of TRPM8-nulls. Mol Pain. Vol. 3, pp. 23.
McKemy, D. D. (2007). Temperature sensing across species. Pflugers Arch. Vol. 454 (5), pp. 777-91.
McKemy, D. D. (2005). How cold is it? TRPM8 and TRPA1 in the molecular logic of cold sensation. Mol Pain. Vol. 1, pp. 16.
Jordt, S. E., Bautista, D. M., Chuang, H. H., McKemy, D. D., Zygmunt, P. M., Hogestatt, E. D., Meng, I. D., Julius, D. (2004). Mustard oils and cannabinoids excite sensory nerve fibres through the TRP channel ANKTM1. Nature. Vol. 427 (6971), pp. 260-5.
Jordt, S. E., McKemy, D. D., Julius, D. (2003). Lessons from peppers and peppermint: the molecular logic of thermosensation. Curr Opin Neurobiol. Vol. 13 (4), pp. 487-92.
McKemy, D. D., Neuhausser, W. M., Julius, D. (2002). Identification of a cold receptor reveals a general role for TRP channels in thermosensation. Nature. Vol. 416 (6876), pp. 52-8.
Ivanenko, A., McKemy, D. D., Kenyon, J. L., Airey, J. A., Sutko, J. L. (1995). Embryonic chicken skeletal muscle cells fail to develop normal excitation-contraction coupling in the absence of the alpha ryanodine receptor. Implications for a two-ryanodine receptor system. J Biol Chem. Vol. 270 (9), pp. 4220-3.
Kenyon, J. L., McKemy, D. D., Airey, J. A., Sutko, J. L. (1995). Interaction between ryanodine receptor function and sarcolemmal Ca2+ currents. Am J Physiol. Vol. 269 (2 Pt 1), pp. C334-40.
Airey, J. A., Baring, M. D., Beck, C. F., Chelliah, Y., Deerinck, T. J., Ellisman, M. H., Houenou, L. J., McKemy, D. D., Sutko, J. L., Talvenheimo, J. (1993). Failure to make normal alpha ryanodine receptor is an early event associated with the crooked neck dwarf (cn) mutation in chicken. Dev Dyn. Vol. 197 (3), pp. 169-88.
Airey, J. A., Deerinck, T. J., Ellisman, M. H., Houenou, L. J., Ivanenko, A., Kenyon, J. L., McKemy, D. D., Sutko, J. L. (1993). Crooked neck dwarf (cn) mutant chicken skeletal muscle cells in low density primary cultures fail to express normal alpha ryanodine receptor and exhibit a partial mutant phenotype. Dev Dyn. Vol. 197 (3), pp. 189-202.

Honors and Awards

USC Neuroscience Graduate Program Faculty of the Year, 2006-2007
Arthritis Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 2000-2003
UCSF-Cardiovascular Research Institute Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1999-2000
American Heart Association Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 1997-1999
Glen E. Whiddett Biomedical Graduate Student Scholarship, 1998

Service to the Profession

Professional Memberships

Society for Neuroscience, 2005-
Biophysical Society, 1994-2005