Kari Johnson PhD

Education

B.A., Biology, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Ph.D., Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Postdoctoral Training, Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD

Biography

Research in the Johnson Laboratory focuses on physiological adaptations in basal ganglia circuits that occur following chronic alcohol exposure in mice, and how these adaptations relate to cognitive impairments caused by alcohol. We are particularly interested in roles of G protein-coupled receptors in modulating neurotransmission at relevant synapses and how these receptors modify behavior under both normal and pathological conditions.

Representative Bibliography

Johnson KA, Lovinger DM (2020) Allosteric modulation of metabotropic glutamate receptors in alcohol use disorder: Insights from preclinical investigations. Advances in Pharmacology. From Structure to Clinical Development: Allosteric Modulation of G Protein-Coupled Receptors.

Johnson KA, Voyvodic L, Loewinger GC, Mateo Y, Lovinger DM (2020) Operant self-stimulation of thalamic terminals in the dorsomedial striatum is constrained by metabotropic glutamate receptor 2. Neuropsychopharmacology. Aug;45(9):1454-1462.

Johnson KA, Liput DJ, Homanics GE, Lovinger DM (2020) Age-dependent impairment of metabotropic glutamate receptor 2-dependent long-term depression in the mouse striatum by chronic ethanol exposure. Alcohol. Feb;82:11-21.

Mateo Y, Johnson KA, Covey DP, Atwood BK, Wang HL, Zhang S, Gildish I, Cachope R, Bellocchio L, Guzmán M, Morales M, Cheer JF, Lovinger DM (2017) Endocannabinoid actions on cortical terminals orchestrate local modulation of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Neuron. 96(5):1112-1126.

Johnson KA, Mateo Y, Lovinger DM (2017) Metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 modulates thalamically-driven glutamate and dopamine release in the dorsal striatum. Neuropharmacology. 117:114-123.

Johnson KA, Lovinger DM (2016) Presynaptic G protein-coupled receptors: Gatekeepers of addiction? Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. Nov 11;10:264.

Yin S, Noetzel MJ, Johnson KA, Zamarano R, Gregory KJ, Conn PJ, Niswender CM (2014) Selective actions of novel allosteric modulators reveal functional heteromers of metabotropic glutamate receptors in the CNS. Journal of Neuroscience. 34(1):79-94.

Johnson KA*, Jones CK*, Tantawy MN, Bubser M, Marvanova M, Ansari MS, Baldwin RM, Conn PJ, Niswender CM (2013) The metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist (S)-3,4-DCPG reverses motor deficits in prolonged but not acute models of Parkinson’s disease. Neuropharmacology. 66:187-95. *These authors contributed equally to this work.

Johnson KA, Niswender CM, Conn PJ, Xiang Z (2011) Activation of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors induces long-term depression of excitatory synaptic transmission in the substantia nigra pars reticulata. Neuroscience Letters. 504(2):102-6.

Johnson KA, Conn PJ, Niswender CM (2009) Glutamate receptors as therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease. CNS and Neurological Disorders – Drug Targets. 8(6):475-91.