Plasticity in the Visual and Other Systems: Energy Metabolism, Neurochemical and Physiological Bases—Honorary Special Issue Commemorating the Work of Prof. Margaret Wong-Riley

Dear Colleagues,

The forthcoming year of 2023 marks the 40-year anniversary of the acceptance of a manuscript by Prof. Emeritus Margaret Wong-Riley, titled “Effect of impulse blockage on cytochrome oxidase activity in monkey visual system” (Nature, 1984, 307 (5948), 262–264), which opened up a new field within the topic of visual systems. Starting from visual system and its metabolic biomarker cytochrome c oxidase, Prof Wong-Riley’s research interests expanded into the regulation of energy metabolism in neurons and in the coupling of neuronal activity and energy metabolism at the cellular and molecular levels. Her laboratory uncovered a transcriptional coupling in neurons, whereby the same sets of transcription factors regulate mediators of energy metabolism (cytochrome c oxidase) and of synaptic transmission (glutamatergic receptors). Her laboratory also uncovered a critical period of respiratory development in rats, during which abrupt neurochemical, ventilatory, and electrophysiological changes occur and animals are least responsive to respiratory insults, such as hypoxia, during that time. Recently, her laboratory discovered that during the critical period of the rat’s visual cortex, there is also a distinct synaptic imbalance with heightened inhibition and suppressed excitation and a reduced expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). These changes are parallel to those in the brain stem respiratory system, though differ in time and duration, indicating that synaptic imbalance during the critical period is a general but necessary transitional phenomenon among systems.

Her research interests include the molecular mechanisms of the bigenomic regulation of cytochrome c oxidase in neurons; adult plasticity in the visual system; metabolic, neurochemical, and physiological bases of a critical period of respiratory development; therapeutic effect of near-infrared light on visual cortical neurons exposed to toxins; and tight coupling of energy metabolism and neuronal activity at the transcriptional level. Her research has been funded by NIH since 1976, and she has published over 138 peer-reviewed articles, including book chapters and invited reviews.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Biomolecules.

Dr. Shilpa Dhar
Guest Editor

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• visual system
• energy metabolism
• neuronal activity
• respiratory system
• transcription
• molecular neuroscience