Donald "Tig" Rainnie
 

Donald Rainnie, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Center for Behavioral Neuroscience Phone: (404) 712-9714 Email: drainni@emory.edu

Background

Dr Rainnie was trained as an electrophysiologist in the laboratory of Professor John Kelly at Edinburgh University Medical School, Department of Pharmacology in Scotland. For his thesis project, Dr Rainnie studied the biophysical properties of serotonergic neurons in the dorsal Raphé nucleus using sharp microelectrode intracellular recording techniques from an in vitro brain slice preparation.

On receiving his PhD in 1988, Dr Rainnie moved to the US to join the laboratory of Dr Patricia Shinnick-Gallagher at the University of Texas Medical Brach in Galveston, where he began a systematic examination of the biophysical properties neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA).

In 1992, Dr Rainnie took a second postdoctoral position in the laboratory of Dr Robert Greene at Harvard University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry where he used whole-cell patch clamp recording techniques to examine the biophysical properties of brainstem cholinergic neurons. In 1995, Dr Rainnie was promoted to Assistant Professor and in 1997 he received an R21 award from NIH to study the effects of serotonin on the intrinsic membrane properties of BLA neurons.

In 2000 Dr Rainnie was recruited to Emory University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry where he is PI of the Rainnie Neurophysiology Laboratory. Dr Rainnie is currently funded by two R01 awards from NIMH, and has ongoing collaborations with several researchers both within Emory and at external institutions.

Positions and Employment

• 2000- Present Assistant Professor, Dept Psychiatry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
• 1995-2000 Assistant Professor, Dept Psychiatry, Harvard Med. School , Brockton, MA
• 1993-1995 Senior Instructor, Dept. of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School.
• 1992-1993 Instructor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas, Galveston, TX
• 1989-1992 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas, Galveston, TX
• 1987-1988 Teaching Basic Electrophysiology, Dept. Pharm., Edinburgh Med. School, Scotland.
• 1983-1984 Scientific Research Officer, Institute of Virology, Oxford Univ., England

Honors

• Invited speaker at the 1993 Gordon's conference on synaptic plasticity.
• Recipient of the William F. Milton Award, 1997
• Nominated for Excellence in Mentoring Award, Harvard Medical School, 1997-1999
• NARSAD Young Investigator Award 1998 – 2000, 2000 - 2002
• NARSAD Independent Investigator Award, 2003 - 2005

Ongoing Research Support

• RO1 NS038998 (McDonald, PI) 7/1/2003 – 6/30/2008
  NIH/NIMH
  Synaptic Organization of the Basolateral Amygdala
  The goal of this collaboration is to use electrophysiological and immunohistochemical techniques to identify characteristic physiological properties of interneurons of the basolateral amygdala based on their expression of cell-specific calcium binding proteins.
• P50 MH58922 (renewal) ( Charles B. Nemeroff, PI) 09/01/04 – 08/31/09
  NIH/NIMH                                   
  Emory Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders
  This study investigates biology in animals and humans exposed to adverse early life experiences. The long term objective is to characterize the molecular and biochemical changes that occur in response to adverse early life stress using preclinical and clinical methodologies. 
• R01 MH072908-01 (Rainnie, PI) 04/1/2005 – 03/31/2010
  NIH/NIMH
  Stress Allostasis: CRF, Serotonin and the BNST
  The major goals of this study are to identify the cellular processes contributing to the cross-talk between CRF and serotonin that occurs in neurons of the BNST.
• R21 AA014716-01A2 (Rainnie, PI) 6/1/2005 – 5/31/2007
  NIH/NIMH
  Promoter-Based Functional Mapping of Amygdala Microcircuits
  The goals of this study are to identify novel molecular probes with which we can identify specific subpopulations of basolateral amygdala interneurons in the primate brain slice preparation.
• R01 MH069852-01A2 (Rainnie, PI) 9/1/2005 – 8/31/2010
  NIH/NIMH
  Functional Neuroanatomy of the Basolateral Amygdala
  The goals of this study are to identify intrinsic membrane, and local network properties that contribute to oscillatory activity in ensembles of basolateral amygdala projection neurons.

Publications

Books

1. Larkman PM, Rainnie DG, Kelly JS. Serotonin receptor electrophysiology and the role of potassium channels in neuronal excitability. (1991) In: Serotonin, Sleep and Mental Disorders. Eds. Idzikowski, C. and Cowen, P.J. Wrightson Biomedical Publishing Ltd.
2. Kelly JS, Larkman P, Penington NJ, Rainnie DG, McAllister-Williams H, Hodgkiss J. Serotonin receptor heterogeneity and the role of potassium channels in neuronal excitibility. In: Neuroreceptor Mechanisms in Brain. (1991) Eds. S. Kito et al., Plenum Press, New York.
3. McCarley RW, Strecker RE, Porkka-Heiskanen T, Thakkar M, Bjørkum, Portas CM, Rainnie DG, Greene RW. Modulation of cholinergic neurons by serotonin and adenosine in the control of REM and non-REM sleep. In: Sleep and Sleep Disorders: From Molecule to Behavior. (1997), Takeda Science Foundation, Japan.
4. Greene RW, Rainnie, DG. The electrophysiology of brainstem cholinergic neurones associated with behavioral state and state transition. In: Handbook of Behavioral State Control: Molecular and Physiological Mechanisms. (1998) Eds. R. Lydic and H. Baghdoyan. CRC Press.

 Papers

1. Kelly, J.S., Larkman, P., Penington, N.J., Rainnie, D.G., McAllister-Williams, H. and Hodgkiss, J. (1991). Serotonin receptor heterogeneity and the role of potassium channels in neuronal excitability. Adv.Exp.Med. Biol. 287:177-191.
2. Rainnie, D.G., Asprodini, E.K., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1991). Inhibitory transmission in the basolateral amygdala. J. Neurophysiol. 66:999-1009.
3. Rainnie, D.G., Asprodini, E.K., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1991). Excitatory transmission in the basolateral amygdala. J. Neurophysiol. 66:986-998.
4. Rainnie, D.G., Asprodini, E.K., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1992). Kindling induced long lasting changes in synaptic transmission in the basolateral amygdala. J. Neurophysiol. 67:443-454.
5. Rainnie, D.G., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1992). Trans-ACPD and L-APB presynaptically inhibit excitatory glutamatergic transmission in the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Neurosci. Letts. 139:87-91.
6. Asprodini, E.K., Rainnie, D.G. Anderson, A.C. and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1992). Kindling does not alter afterhyperpolarizations (AHPs) following action potential firing in basolateral amygdala neurones. Brain Res.588:329-334.
7. Asprodini, E.K., Rainnie, D.G., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1992). Epileptogenesis reduces the sensitivity of presynaptic y-aminobutyric acid receptors on glutamatergic afferents in the amygdala. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 262:1011-1021.
8. Rainnie, D.G., Fernhout, B.J. H., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1992). Differential actions of corticotropin releasing factor on basolateral (BLA) and central amygdaloid (ACe) neurons, in vitro. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 263:846-858.
9. Schiess, M.C., Asprodini E.K., Rainnie, D.G., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1993). The central nucleus of the rat amygdala: In vitro intracellular recordings. Brain Res. 604:283-297.
10. Rainnie, D.G., Asprodini, E.K., and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1993). Electrophysiologial properties of morphologically identified neurones of the rat basolateral amygdala in vitro. J. Neurophysiol. 69:1350-1362.
11. Rainnie, D.G., Holmes, K.H. and Shinnick-Gallagher, P. (1994). Activation of postsynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors by trans-ACPD hyperpolarizes neurones of the basolateral amygdala. J. Neurosci. 14(11):7208-7220.
12. Davis , M., Rainnie, D.G. and Cassel, M. (1994). Neurotransmission in the rat amygdala related to fear and anxiety. TINS 17;208-214.
13. Rainnie, D.G, Grunze H.C.R., McCarley, R.W. and Greene, R.W. (1994). Adenosine Inhibits Mesopontine Cholinergic Neurons: Implications for EEG Arousal. Science. 263:689-692.
14. Chen, C., Rainnie, D.G., Greene, R.W. and Tonegawa, S. (1994). Abnormal fear response and aggressive behavior in mutant mice deficient for "-calcium-calmodulin kinase II. Science. 265:291-294.
15. McCarley RW, Greene RW, Rainnie D.G., and Portas CM. Brainstem neuromodulation and REM sleep. Seminars in the Neurosciences. 1995; 7:341-345.
16. Grunze, H.C.R., Rainnie, D.G., Hasselmo, M.E., Hearn E.F., Barkai, E., McCarley, R.W., and Greene, R.W., (1996) NMDA-dependent modulation of CA1 local circuit inhibition. J. Neurosci. 16(6):2034-2043.
17. Portas, C.M., Thakkar, M., Rainnie, D.G., and McCarley, R.W., (1996) Microdialysis perfusion of 8-OH-DPAT in dorsal raphe nucleus decreases serotonin release and increases REM sleep in the freely moving cat. J. Neurosci. 16(8):2820-2828.
18. Portas, C.M., Thakkar, M., Rainnie, D.G., Greene R.W., and McCarley, R.W., (1997) Role of adenosine in behavioral state modulation: a microdialysis study in the freely moving cat. Neurosci. 79(1): 225-235.
19. Li X-J, Rainnie, D.G, McCarley R.W and Greene R.W., (1998) Presynaptic nicotinic receptors facilitate monoaminergic transmission. J. Neurosci.; 18(5):1904-1912.
20. Rainnie, D.G. (1999) Serotonergic modulation of neurotransmission in the rat basolateral amygdala. J. Neurophysiol; 82: 69-85.
21. Rainnie, D.G. (1999) Neurones of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST): Electrophysiological properties and their response to serotonin. In: Advancing from the Ventral Striatum to the Extended Amygdala. Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci. 877:695-699.
22. Strecker,R.E.; Morairty,S.; Thakkar,M.M.; Porkka-Heiskanen,T.; Basheer,R.; Dauphin,L.J.; Rainnie,D.G.; Portas,C.M.; Greene,R.W.; McCarley,R.W. (2000) Adenosinergic modulation of basal forebrain and preoptic/anterior hypothalamic neuronal activity in the control of behavioral state. Behav.Brain Res. 115(2):183-204.
23. Arrigoni, E., Rainnie, D.G., McCarley, R.W., and Greene, R.W., (2001) Adenosine mediated presynaptic modulation of glutamaergic transmission in the laterodorsal tegmentum. J.Neurosci. 21(3): 1076-1085.
24. Basheer, R., Rainnie, D.G., Porkka-Heiskanen, T., Ramesh, V., and McCarley, R.W., (2001) Adenosine, prolonged wakefulness, and A1-activated NF-6B DNA binding in the basal forebrain of the rat. Neurosci. 104(3):731-739.
25. Rainnie, D.G. (2003) Inhibitory and Excitatory Circuitries in Amygdala Nuclei: A Synopsis of Session II. In: The Amygdala in Brain Function: Basic and Clinical Approaches. Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci. 985:59-66.
26. Shekhar, A., Sajdyk, T.J., Gehlert, D.R., and Rainnie, D.G. (2003) The Amygdala, Panic Disorder, and Cardiovascular Responses. In: The Amygdala in Brain Function: Basic and Clinical Approaches. Annals N.Y. Acad. Sci. 985:308-325.
27. Levita, L., Mania, I., and Rainnie, D.G. (2003) Subtypes of substance-P receptor immunoreactive interneurons in the rat basolateral amygdala. Brain Res. 981:41-51.
28. Morairty, S., Rainnie, D.G., McCarley, R. and Greene, R. (2004) Disinhibition of ventrolateral preoptic area sleep-active neurons by adenosine: A new mechanism for sleep promotion. Neurosci. 123:451-457.
29. Rainnie, D.G., Bergeron, R., Sajdyk, T.J., Patil, M., Gelhert, D.R., and Shekhar A., (2004) CRF-Induced Synaptic Plasticity in the Amygdala Translates Stress Into Emotional Disorders. J. Neurosci. 24:3471-3479.
30. Levita, L., Hammack, S.E., Mania, I., X-Y. Li., Davis, M., and Rainnie, D.G. (2004). 5-Hydroxytryptamine 1A-like receptor activation in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis: Electrophysiological and behavioral studies. Neuroscience 128(3): 583-596.
31. McDonald, A.J., Mascagni F., Mania I., and Rainnie D.G. (2005) Evidence for a perisomatic innervation of parvalbumin-containing interneurons by individual pyramidal cells in the basolateral amygdala. Brain Res.1035: 32-40.
32. Rainnie D.G., Mania I., Mascagni F., and McDonald, A.J (2006) Physiological and morphological characterization of parvalbumin-containing interneurons of the rat basolateral amygdala. J. Comp. Neurol. 498(1) 142-161.
33. Pickel, Cogliano, Mania, Molosh and Rainnie (2006) Dopamine D1 receptors co-distribute with NMDA type-1 (NR1) subunits and modulate synaptically-evoked NMDA currents in rat basolateral amygdala. Neuroscience 142: 671-690.
34. J.P. Chhatwal, S.E. Hammack, A Jasnow, D.G. Rainnie, and K. J. Ressler. (2007) Identification of cell-type specific promoters within the brain using lentiviral vectors. Gene Therapy 1-9.