Areas of Interest
The goal of the Jones lab is to identify novel therapeutic targets for mental health disorders. Specifically, we focus on schizophrenia, depression and drug abuse. Dysfunctions in the physiology of GABAergic interneurons are implicated in all three disorders, and we use animal models to identify specific neurophysiological deficits that can be targeted for future drug development. Currently we are examining the role of fast-spiking interneurons in these disorders at several levels of organization, including characterizing biophysical properties of critical ion channels, all the way up to behavioral analyses in whole animals. We utilize a number of tools including transgenic mice and zebrafish, optogenetics, multi-electrode physiology in our work. The ultimate goal of the lab is to help find better treatments for schizophrenia, depression and drug abuse.
Credentials
Education
PhD, Duke University
BS, Coppin State University
Published Articles or Reviews
Selected Publications
Sokolowski, K., Esumi, S., Hirata,T. Kamal, Y., Tran, T., Lam, A., Oboti, L., Brighthaupt, S-C, Zaghlula, M., Martinez, J., Ghimbovschi, S., Knoblach,S., Pierani,A., Tamamaki, N., Shah,N.M., Jones, K.S. and Corbin, J.G. Specification of select hypothalamic circuits and innate behaviors by the embryonic patterning gene Dbx1. Neuron 86 (2):403-16 (2015).
Jones, K.S., Corbin, JC and Huntsman, M.M. Neonatal NMDA Receptor Blockade Disrupts Spike Timing and Glutamatergic Synapses in Fast Spiking Interneurons in a NMDA Receptor Hypofunction Model of Schizophrenia. PLoS.One. Oct 7;9 (10) (2014).
Antoine TE1, Jones KS, Dale RM, Shukla D, Tiwari V. Zebrafish: modeling for herpes simplex virus infections. Zebrafish. 2014 Feb;11(1):17-25. doi: 10.1089/zeb.2013.0920.
Hubbard S, Darmani NA, Thrush GR, Dey D, Burnham L, Thompson JM, Jones KS, Tiwari V. (2010). Zebrafish-Encoded 3-O-Sulfotransferase-3 Isoform Mediates Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Entry and Spread. Zebrafish 7: May 2010.
Jones, K.S., Chen, J.C., Patel, R.C., and Friedman, T.C. (2010) The Behavioral and Pharmacological Actions of NMDA Receptor Antagonism are Conserved in Zebrafish Larvae. International Journal of Comparative Psychology 23:82-90.
Jones K.S., Alimov AP, Rilo HL, Jandacek RJ, Woollett LA, Penberthy WT. (2008) A high throughput live transparent animal bioassay to identify non-toxic small molecules or genes that regulate vertebrate fat metabolism for obesity drug development. Nutr Metab. 5:23.
Jones, K.S., VanDongen, H.M.A, and Vandongen A.M.J. (2002). The NMDA receptor M3 domain is a conserved transduction element coupling ligand binding to channel opening. Journal of Neuroscience 22: 2044-2053.
