Education/career profile
Research interests
Selected publications
Teaching
Conferences/Presentations/Proceedings
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EDUCATION/CAREER PROFILE

Bachelor of Science (Hons), Monash University
Doctor of Philosophy (Neuropharmacology), Monash University
Junior Lecturer, Dept. of Pharmacology, Monash University
Postdoctoral Research, 2 years, Arvid Carlsson Institute, Sweden

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Injury to the central nervous system (CNS; via direct damage or disease) is an extremely complex process, requiring the interplay of all cell types in the brain. Coming to a full understanding of these processes will allow the development of new treatments to promote the recovery of sufferers of CNS injury. Research in this laboratory investigates: the response of astrocytes following injury, the development of drug treatment following stroke and the development of a cell based therapy for the treatment of spinal cord neurodegeneration.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1. Apricó, K., Beart, P.M., Lawrence, A.J., Crawford, D. and O'Shea, R.D. (2001) [3H]-(2S, 4R)-4-Methylglutamate: A novel ligand for the characterisation of glutamate transporters. Journal of Neurochemistry, 77: 1218-1225.

2. O'Shea, R.D., Fodera, M.V., Apricó, K., Dehnes, Y., Danbolt, N.C., Crawford, D. and Beart P.M. (2002). Evaluation of drugs acting at glutamate transporters in organotypic hippocampal cultures: New evidence on substrates and blockers in excitotoxicity. Neurochemical Research, 27: 5-13.

3. Moldrich, R.X., Apricó, K., Diwarkala, S., O'Shea, R.D. and Beart, P.M. (2002). Astrocyte mGlu(2/3)-mediated cAMP potentiation is calcium sensitive: studies in murine neuronal and astrocyte cultures. Neuropharmacology, 43: 189-203.

4. Apricó, K., Beart, P.M., Crawford, D., O'Shea, R.D. (2004). Binding and transport of , a new ligand for glutamate transporter, demonstrate labelling of EAAT1 in cultured murine astrocytes. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 75: 751-9.

5. Apricó, K., Bywood, P., Nilsson, M. (2004). Reactive astrogliosis: the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of neuroregeneration. Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to Journal of Neurotrauma. In progress.

6. Apricó, K., Blomstrand, F., Nilsson, M. (2004). Characterisation of scrape-wound injury in cultured astrocytes as a model for traumatic brain injury. Manuscript in preparation to be submitted to Journal of Neuroscience Methods. In progress.

TEACHING

Physiology and Pharmacology

CONFERENCES, PRESENTATIONS AND PROCEEDINGS

Apricó, K., Beart, P.M. and O'Shea, R.D. (1998) Establishment of a mixed neuronal-astrocytic culture and an hippocampal organotypic culture for the study of glutamate transporters. Proc. Aust. Soc. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 5: 163.

O'Shea, R.D. Beart, P.M. and Apricó, K. (1999) Establishment of serum-free cell culture models to study roles and regulation of glutamate transporters. J. Neurochem., 73: S98.

O'Shea, R.D., Fodera, M.V., Apricó, K. and Beart, P.M. (2000) The glutamate transport inhibitor L-CCG-III is neuroprotective in organotypic hippocampal cultures of the rat. Proc. Aust. Neurosci. Soc., 11: 172.

Apricó, K., Beart, P.M., Jarrott, B., Crawford, D. and O'Shea, R.D. (2000) [3H]-(2S,4R)-4-Methyl-glutamate: A novel ligand for the characterisation of astrocytic glutamate transporters. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 26: 1442.

Apricó, K., Lawrence, A.J., Crawford, D., Beart, P.M. and O'Shea, R.D. (2001) [3H]-(2S,4R)-4-Methylglutamate as a radioligand for glutamate transporters in membrane homogenates and brain slices. J. Neurochem., 78 (Suppl. 1): 35.

Beart, P.M., Apricó, K., Crawford, D. and O'Shea, R.D. (2002) Binding studies with the novel ligand [3H]4-methylglutamate confirm that the L-glutamate transporter in mouse astrocytes is of the EAAT1 subtype. FENS Abstr., 1: A217.2.

Beart, P.M., O'Shea, R.D., Apricó, K., Chen, B., Lawrence, A.J., Maccecchini, M-L. and Pei, X-F. (2002) Novel insights into the structure-activity requirements of glutamate transporters from binding studies with [3H](2S,4R)-4-methylglutamate, [3H]D-aspartate and 4-methylglutamate analogs. The pharmacologist, 44 (Suppl 1): A244.

Apricó, K., Lawrence, A.J., Crawford, D., Beart, P.M. and O'Shea, R.D. (2003). The binding profile of the novel ligand for glutamate transporters, [3H](2S,4R)-4-methylglutamate in astrocyte homogenates. Proc. Aust. Neurosci. Soc., 14: 132.

O'Shea, R.D., Apricó, K., Crawford, D., and Beart, P.M. (2003). [3H](2S,4R)-4-methylglutamate as a ligand for glutamate transporters in rat brain slices. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 254.14.

Faijerson, J., Tinsley, R.B., Apricó, K., Nodin, C, Blomstrand, F. and Eriksson, P. (2004). Conditioned medium from mechanically injured hippocampal astrocytes induces astrocytic differentiation in adult neural progenitors. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 148.11.