Robert J Milner

Robert J Milner
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School | UMMS · Office of Faculty Affairs

PhD

About

66
Publications
5,009
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6,524
Citations
Additional affiliations
July 2010 - present
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Position
  • Associate Vice Provost for Professional Development
Description
  • Scholarship on faculty development & mentoring
July 2003 - July 2010
Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine
Position
  • Professor
January 1992 - June 2003
Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Penn State College of Medicine
Position
  • Professor
Education
August 1972 - August 1978

Publications

Publications (66)
Article
Writing a grant is a hefty undertaking. Start by surrounding yourself with a successful mentor and accompanying team with a good track record. Get organized, select clear goals and objectives to your project. Once the foundation for the grant is set, begin by generating a robust hypothesis. Once your hypothesis is clearly defined, you should contac...
Article
Today, faculty in academic medicine face challenges in all three mission areas--research, education, and patient care--and require a broad set of competencies to survive in this changing environment. To support faculty and to design assessments that match new expectations, the authors argue that it is essential to capture the full scope of skills,...
Article
Projects--planned activities with specific goals and outcomes--have been used in faculty development programs to enhance participant learning and development. Projects have been employed most extensively in programs designed to develop faculty as educators. The authors review the literature and report the results of their 2008 study of the impact o...
Article
Mentoring is a central component of professional development. Evaluation of "successful" mentoring programs, however, has been limited and mainly focused on measures of satisfaction with the relationship. In today's environment, mentoring programs must produce tangible outcomes to demonstrate success. To address this issue, the authors advance the...
Chapter
This chapter is concerned with the question, “Now that I’ve isolated a cDNA clone, what do I do with it?” The discussion is directed particularly at the analysis of clones of mRNAs encoding proteins of unknown identity that have been selected by procedures such as subtractive hybridization (see chapter by Travis et al. 59). In these cases, the ques...
Chapter
Molecular cloning is the process of inserting foreign fragments of DNA into a plasmid or bacteriophage vector that is capable of autonomous replication in a suitable host cell. The resulting recombinant DNA molecules can then be amplified by growth in the host and isolated in pure form. The nucleotide sequence of the inserted portion of the recombi...
Article
Full-text available
Empowerment of faculty is essential for academic success. The Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP), sponsored by the Office of Professional Development of the Penn State College of Medicine, was established in 2003 with the goal of promoting the development and advancement of junior faculty so they can achieve success in their academic careers...
Article
Synaptic plasticity is important for formation of long-term memories and in re-establishment of function following injury. Seven cDNAs enriched following lesion in the hippocampus of the rat have been isolated using a PCR-based cDNA suppression subtraction hybridization. Sequence analysis resulted in the identification of two genes with known roles...
Article
Protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) activity is abundant in microglia, but the PTKs that participate in their activation have not been identified. For these studies, we used three paradigms to characterize PTK expression during microglial activation: resting and activated microglia were bulk fractionated from the adult brain, cultured newborn microglia w...
Article
We have studied the expression of the nerve terminal protein synaptosomal associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) in the retina of adult rat, mouse, and monkey, as well as in the developing mouse retina. To evaluate SNAP-25 expression, its distribution was compared to those of the synaptic vesicle-associated proteins synapsin I and synaptophysin. In situ h...
Article
Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expressed by astrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) has been extensively characterized but the molecular identity of related molecules in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) remains unclear. To examine possible structural differences between CNS and PNS GFAP, we have isolated cDNA clones for rat GFAP f...
Article
Full-text available
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is an abundant and widespread neuropeptide in the nervous system of mammals. NPY belongs to a family of 36-amino acid peptides that also includes pancreatic polypeptide and the endocrine gut peptide YY as well as the fish pancreatic peptide Y. To study the evolution of this peptide family, we have isolated clones encoding NPY f...
Article
A cDNA clone encoding a stimulatory G-protein alpha subunit (Gs alpha) was isolated from a cDNA library derived from cultured rat astrocytes. The nucleotide sequence of the cDNA indicated that it corresponds to the Gs alpha-2 form of Gs alpha mRNA, one of four Gs alpha mRNAs known to be derived by alternative splicing from the human Gs alpha gene....
Article
We have characterized cDNA clones of mRNAs encoding two distinct isoforms of myosin regulatory light chain expressed in rat brain. One clone, isolated from a cultured astrocyte cDNA library, is derived from a 1200-base mRNA that is expressed at high levels in cultured astrocytes, and at higher levels in the embryonic brain than in the adult brain....
Article
Full-text available
Contact of axons with target territories results in the formation of synapses, specific junctional complexes that may represent a final stage of neuronal maturation. Synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) is a component of particular nerve terminals recently identified in rodent brain. To evaluate the structure and regulation of molecular com...
Article
Myelinogenesis requires an orchestrated series of cellular events to generate and compact concentric layers of the oligodendrocyte or Schwann cell membrane around an axon. The regulation and modulation of interactions between cell membranes and between adjacent cell surfaces have particular importance in the elaboration of the myelin sheath. The my...
Article
Full-text available
We have examined the changes in neuronal expression of oxytocin mRNA in the perinatal and mature female rat as a function of endogenous gonadal steroids. Northern blot analysis demonstrated a significant developmental increase in the abundance of oxytocin mRNA in the female brain concomitant with puberty. Ovariectomy of adult females decreased tota...
Article
Full-text available
The mRNAs for 2 isotypes of alpha-tubulin, termed T alpha 1 and T26, are differentially regulated in the developing rat nervous system. T alpha 1 alpha-tubulin mRNA is expressed at high levels when neurons extend processes whereas T26 mRNA is expressed constitutively (Miller et al., 1987b). We have examined the expression of these 2 alpha-tubulin m...
Article
Full-text available
The protein encoded by the rat brain cDNA 1B236 has been shown to be identical to myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG). In this report we describe the cellular distribution of 1B236/MAG mRNA transcripts in rat brain by using in situ hybridization. At postnatal day 20, large numbers of 1B236/MAG mRNA-containing oligodendrocytes are concentrated in m...
Article
Myelin, the unique product of a glial cell membrane that electrically insulates the nerve axon, is composed of relatively few major protein components. The recent characterization of these proteins by molecular cloning techniques has raised interest in studies of myelin formation at the molecular level. Proteolipids, a family of integral membrane p...
Article
The myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) and the brain 1B236 protein are 100-kDa glycoproteins containing 30% carbohydrate that exist in two developmentally regulated forms and are specific to the nervous system. Recent cDNA cloning experiments in several laboratories using primarily immunological means of identification have determined the complet...
Article
*Department of Molecular Biolo~ and tDivision of Preclinical Neuroscience and Endocrinolo~, Research Institute of SC~S Clinic, 106r;6 N. Torrey Pines Road La ]olla, CA 92037, USA. One of the surprising findings from the past decade of molecular biology researchis that a single gene can give rise to more than one mature mRNA via the process of alter...
Article
We present the complete nucleotide sequence of a cDNA encoding rat cyclophilin. The 743-nucleotide sequence contains a 42-nucleotide 5' noncoding region, a 492 nucleotide open reading frame corresponding to a translation product of 164 amino acids with a molecular weight of 17,874, and a 3' noncoding region of 209 nucleotides. Primer extension stud...
Article
Full-text available
The mRNAs for two isotypes of alpha-tubulin, termed T alpha 1 and T26, are known to be expressed in the rat nervous system. We have compared the expression of these two alpha-tubulin mRNAs during neural development, using RNA blotting and in situ hybridization techniques with probes directed against unique sequences of each mRNA. T alpha 1 mRNA is...
Article
We have reviewed the structure and properties of the neural protein 1B236/MAG. This molecule consists largely of five Ig-like domains separated from its carboxyl terminal tail by a single membrane-spanning region. Two forms of the protein differ in the length and sequence of the carboxyl terminus: these are encoded by alternatively spliced mRNAs th...
Article
We have previously shown that, in the myelin-deficient jimpy mutant mouse, 74 nucleotides are absent from the mRNA for proteolipid protein (PLP) as a result of aberrant RNA processing. To define the exact site of the jimpy mutation, we have analyzed the PLP gene obtained from a jimpy mouse genomic library. We find that the nucleotide sequence that...
Article
This chapter discusses the characterization of brain proteins with a strategy based on recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) technology, nucleotide sequence analysis, and antibodies against synthetic peptides. These studies have resulted in descriptions of the brain-specific protein 1B236, a potential peptide precursor, rat brain proteolipid prot...
Article
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Article
Full-text available
In order to identify markers for developing neural cell populations and gain molecular insights into the processes of neural development and differentiation, we have selected cDNA clones of rat brain mRNAs that are expressed in brain at embryonic day 16 (E16) with at least 10-fold greater abundance than they are in adult brain. Eleven such clones w...
Article
Full-text available
Proteolipid protein (PLP) is the major myelin membrane protein of the central nervous system. We have isolated a copy of an alternatively spliced PLP gene transcript from a mouse brain cDNA library that was screened for PLP-related sequences. The encoded 241-amino acid protein differs from PLP by an internal deletion of 35-amino acid residues (116-...
Article
Full-text available
The structures of two rat brain-specific 1B236 mRNAs, alternative splice products from a single gene regulated differently during postnatal brain development, were deduced from full-length cDNA clones. The 626- and 582-amino acid-long encoded proteins are indistinguishable from two forms of myelin-associated glycoprotein, a cell adhesion molecule i...
Article
Full-text available
The mouse mutant jimpy carries an X chromosome-linked recessive gene defect that affects the formation of myelin in the central nervous system. To understand the molecular basis of the jimpy mutation, we have examined the expression of mRNAs encoding myelin proteolipid protein (PLP). PLP mRNAs were detectable in jimpy brain RNA at 21 days after bir...
Article
Full-text available
The rat brain-specific polypeptide 1B236 was previously characterized by molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence determination of its mRNA. It has been shown to exist in rat brain in discrete neuronal circuits, primarily as a 100,000 Da glycoprotein. We now have determined the time course of expression of 1B236 mRNA and protein in rat brain durin...
Chapter
We have used in situ hybridization to map the expression of novel, moderately abundant mRNAs in the rodent brain. The technique has the resolution both to discriminate major structures or nuclei and, at the cellular level, to distinguish cells of different morphology that express a particular mRNA sequence. The pattern of expression of two genes is...
Article
The 3200 and 1600 nucleotide mRNAs encoding rat brain proteolipid protein (PLP), the major protein component of central nervous system myelin, are heterogeneous at their 5' ends, differ in their 3' polyadenylation sites, and are transcribed from a single gene. The mRNAs, which first appear postnatally, encode identical 277 amino acid proteins that...
Article
Full-text available
The 318-amino acid, carboxy-terminal sequence of the putative brain-specific polypeptide 1B236 was deduced from the nucleotide sequence of its cloned brain-specific mRNA. Antisera raised against selected synthetic peptide fragments of this protein were used to map the cellular location of the presumptive gene product in the brains of normal or colc...
Article
Full-text available
The COOH-terminal amino acid sequence of the rat brain-specific polypeptide 1B236 was previously deduced from molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence determination of its mRNA and the 1B236 protein shown to exist in the rat brain. The amino acid sequence of 1B236 contained at least three peptide sequences demarcated by pairs of basic amino acids-...
Article
This chapter describes the interactions between the transmitters of convergent synaptic inputs on their presumed common target cells. In particular, interactions between norepinephrine—the transmitter of the globally directed coeruleo-cortical projection, and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP)—one of the peptides attributed to the intrinsic lo...
Article
Although most attention has been focused on neurons, glia are the predominant cell type in the CNS. While we have a basic understanding of neuronal function, the properties and functions of glial cells are poorly understood, even in a general sense. Advances will depend in part on identifying and characterizing proteins which are specific to glial...
Article
Some 30,000 genes are expressed exclusively in the rat brain, many of which contain a genetic element called an identifier sequence located in at least one of their introns. The identifier sequences are transcribed by RNA polymerase III exclusively in neurons to produce two RNA species, BC1 and BC2, of 160 and 100 to 110 nucleotides. This transcrip...
Article
The messenger RNA (mRNA) coding for the adrenal precursor of enkephalins (preproenkephalin-A) has been detected in bovine adrenal medulla cells using in situ hybridization with 32P-labelled preproenkephalin A (PPA) complementary DNA. In formaldehyde- and Carnoy-fixed tissue sections, an intense elective labelling restricted to the cells located at...
Article
'Identifier' or ID sequences are present in 62% of the RNA polymerase II and III transcripts made in vitro from brain nuclei but in fewer than 4% of the transcripts made from the nuclei of other tissues. An homologous 160-nucleotide cytoplasmic poly(A)+ RNA species, BC1, and a smaller species, BC2, are located in vivo exclusively in neural tissues....
Article
Full-text available
The 82-nucleotide identifier (ID) sequence is present in the rat genome in 1-1.5 X 10(5) copies and in cDNA clones of precursors of brain-specific mRNAs. One brain-specific gene contains more than one ID sequence in its introns. There is an excess of ID sequences to brain genes, and some ID sequences appear to have been inserted as mobile elements...
Article
Genes expressed specifically by the brain account for the majority of the 30 000 mRNAs found in brain. These genes carry a characteristic 82 nucleotide ‘IID’ sequence in some of their introns, which is probably involved in gene control. The amino acid sequences of brain proteins can be read from DNA sequences, available from cDNA clones of brain-sp...
Article
191 randomly selected cDNA clones prepared from rat brain cytoplasmic poly (A)+ RNA were screened by Northern blot hybridization to rat brain, liver and kidney RNA to determine the tissue distribution, abundance and size of the corresponding brain mRNA. 18% hybridized to mRNAs each present equally in the three tissues, 26% to mRNAs differentially e...
Article
From the nucleotide sequences of three cDNA clones of rat brain-specific mRNAs, we deduced the partial amino acid sequences of two previously unknown proteins. We raised antisera to synthetic peptides mimicking short regions of these putative brain-specific proteins, and used these sera in immunocytochemical studies to localize each protein in the...
Article
We have determined the 679 nucleotide sequence of a cDNA clone which, by hybridization-translation experiments, corresponds to a 36K chick brain protein. Our studies provide a partial amino add sequence for this protein, identifying it as chicken glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Antisera raised against purified chicken GAPDH reacte...
Article
Excerpt Neural specificity at the cellular level is the consequence of a cell's anatomical location, its particular connections, and the set of proteins it expresses. The brain is a complex organ and its cells express an enormous number of specific proteins, yet very few brain-specific proteins have thus far been characterized. To understand ultima...
Article
Hybridomas secreting monoclonal anti-vaso-active intestinal polypeptide (VIP) antibodies were constructed from spleen cells sensitized to VIP in vitro. The secreted antibodies were characterized by binding to VIP in indirect radioimmunoassays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Two monoclonal antibodies, characterized for their binding activiti...
Chapter
Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) was originally isolated from the intestine but has been shown to be distributed throughout the body with a high concentration in the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex. In addition, this 28 amino acid polypeptide, VIP, has been localized to and released from nerve terminals in the brain, suggesting that VIP may...
Article
Full-text available
Several randomly selected cDNA clones made from rat brain polyA+RNA have unusual properties. Although the cDNA inserts are 500-1,250 base pairs long, they hybridize to a 160-nucleotide RNA species that is present in brain but not in liver or kidney. Nucleotide sequence studies of two of the clones and hybridization studies show that a common 82-nuc...
Article
The opioid peptides alpha- and beta-endorphin and [D-Ala2, Met5]enkephalin were investigated for their effect on the proliferation of resting and activated rat splenic lymphocytes in vitro. beta-Endorphin enhanced the proliferative response of spleen cells to the T cell mitogens concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin. The effect of beta-endorphin wa...
Article
H-2 antigens were characterized by physicochemical methods, by peptide mapping techniques, and by radiochemical amino acid sequence analysis. The combined data provide a working model of these molecules in solution and on the cell surface that includes the organization of the heavy (m.w. 46,000) and light (m.w. 12,000, ..beta..â-microglobulin) chai...
Article
Excerpt The major histocompatibility antigens, first noted for their exceptional antigenic strength and genetic polymorphism, now appear to have an important role in an immunological defense mechanism. Their exact function, however, remains unknown. A considerable body of evidence suggests that the H-2 antigens are intimately involved in the T-cell...
Article
H-2 alloantisera have been previously reported to contain antibodies against murine leukemia viral antigens, but the nature of the viral antigens on mouse cells which interact with these antibodies has not been established. We have found that H-2 alloantisera recognize components of molecular weight 70 000 – 80 000 on mouse lymphocytes and leukemia...
Article
Full-text available
Detergent and papain solubilized murine histocompatibility (H-2) antigens have been compared by gel exclusion chromatography, ultracentrifugation, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and amino-acid sequence analysis. From these data, we propose a molecular model for the H-2 antigens that includes the size and arrangement of t...
Chapter
Histocompatibility antigens are glycoproteins found on the surface membranes of vertebrate cells. The significance of these antigens in the rejection of allografts between individuals has been well established (1), and the genetics of these polymorphic systems have been studied in detail in the mouse (H-2) and in man (HL-A). The segment of the 17th...

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