Dr. Gregg B. Wells

Assistant Professor

Office: Joe Reynolds Medical Building
email:gbwells@medicine.tamu.edu
Phone: (979) 458-8888
Laboratory:  979-845-7832
Fax: (979) 862-1299
Web: http://medicine.tamu.edu/pathology/Wells/

Courses Taught

Research Interests

The general theme of the research in my laboratory is the role of protein structure in disease, particularly in neurological disease.  One area of study is the structure and function of the superfamily of neurotransmitter-gated ion channels that includes nicotinic acetylcholine, serotonin 5HT3, glycine, and GABAA receptors.  Members of this superfamily are involved in drug addiction and alcoholism, neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease, genetic forms of epilepsy, and neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression.  We are developing new approaches to elucidating the molecular structures of these ion channels.  Cyclic nucleotide gated channels (CNGCs) are a second area of study.  We are interpreting their electrophysiological properties in terms of structure and thermodynamics.  Explaining specific neurological diseases in terms of protein structure is a theme linking neuroscience with neuropathology, my medical specialty. 

Education

M.D./Ph.D., University of Chicago
Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology, University of Pennsylvania

Recent Publications

Gerzanich, V., Peng, X., Wang, F., Wells, G., Anand, R., Fletcher, S., Lindstrom, J. (1995), "Comparative Pharmacology of Epibatidine - A Potent Agonist for Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors," Molecular Pharmacology 48, 774-782. 
         
Wang, F., Gerzanich, V., Wells, G. B., Anand, R., Peng, X. Keyser, K., and Lindstrom, J. (1996), "Assembly of Human Neuronal Nicotinic Receptor a5 Subunits with a3, b2, and b4 Subunits," Journal of Biological Chemistry 271, 17656-17665.
 
Wells, G. B. and Tanaka, J. C. (1997), "Ion Selectivity Predictions from a Two Site Permeation Model for the Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Channel of Retinal Rod Cells," Biophysical Journal 72: 127-140.
 
Wells, G. B., Anand, R., Wang, F., and Lindstrom, J. (1998), “Water-soluble Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Formed by a7 Subunit Extracellular Domains,” Journal of Biological Chemistry 273: 964-973.
 
Diethelm-Okita, B., Wells, G. B., Kuryatov, A., Okita, D., Howard, J., Lindstrom, J. M., and Conti-Fine, B. M. (1998), “Response of CD4+ T Cells from Myasthenic Patients and Healthy Subjects to Biosynthetic and Synthetic Sequences of the Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor,” Journal of Autoimmunity 11: 191-203.
 
Anand, R., Nelson, M. E., Gerzanich, V., Wells, G. B., and Lindstrom, J. (1998), “Determinants of Channel Gating Located in the N-Terminal Extracellular Domain of Nicotinic a7 Receptor,” Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 287: 469-479.
 
Sinson, G. P., Gennarelli, T. J. , Wells, G. B. (1998), "Suprasellar Osteolipoma:  Case Report," Surgical Neurology50:457-460.
 
Abraham, S., Lieberman, A., Pack A., Judy, K., Wells, G., and Mourelatos, Z. (1999), “Case of the month: July 1998 - 21 year old man with new-onset seizures and a temporal lobe mass - Neurocysticercosis,” Brain Pathology 9: 187-188.
 
Wells, G. B., Lopez, M. C., and Tanaka, J. C. (1999), “The Effects of Ibogaine on Dopamine and Serotonin Transport in Rat Brain Synaptosomes,” Brain Research Bulletin 48: 641-647. 
 
Wells, G. B., Lin, L., Jeanclos, E. M., and Anand, R. (2001), “Assembly and Ligand Binding Properties of the Water-Soluble Extracellular Domains of the Glutamate Receptor GluR1 Subunit,” Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276: 3031-3036.
 
Mourelatos, Z., McGarvey, M., French, J. A., and Wells, G. (2003), “Case of the month: October 2002 - A 27-year-old female with epilepsy - Rasmussen’s chronic encephalitis syndrome,” Brain Pathology 13:  233-234.
 

Current Grants

Link to Vita

Link to Vita