Anthony Ricci

Honors and Awards

• Burt Evans Young Investigator Award, National Organization for Hearing (2002)
• Young Investigator Award, Deafness Research Foundation (1999)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Manuel Castellano Munoz , Bifeng Pan , Anthony Peng

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Molecular and Cellular Physiology
• Neurosciences

Research Interests

The auditory system is a remarkable feat of engineering capable of detecting motion at the atomic level and transmitting this information to the brain with precise timing and fidelity. We use advanced electrophysiologic, imaging, molecular and pharmacologic techniques to probe mechanisms of mechanotransduction and synaptic transmission at the auditory periphery. There are several independent lines of research in the laboratory.
Mechanotransduction, the conversion of mechanical stimulation into an electrical signal, is complex and involves a variety of proteins, many of which have not yet been identified. A major goal of the laboratory is to delineate the functional relevance of mechanotransduction and to identify proteins and their function in this process. To date, we have identified and characterized the tuning properties of the sensory hair bundle and mechanotransducer channels, identifying at least two new physiologically relevant contributions of these channels. We have performed the only single channel study of mechanotransducer channels, demonstrating tonotopic variations in the intrinsic channel properties. We have also performed the only kinetic analysis of activation, again demonstrating tonotopic variations in the kinetics of the mechanotransduction channel. In addition, we have pharmacologically characterized and biophysically mapped the transducer channel pore. Recently we have developed a high speed confocal imaging system that will allow us to optically monitor calcium changes associated with mechanotransduction, allowing us to localize the site of mechanotransduction and directly investigate mechanisms of calcium, regulation.
A second major direction of the laboratory is synaptic transmission where we are interested in identifying mechanisms associated with specializing these synapses to graded and tonic release of transmitter at high rates and with high fidelity. We have morphologically and biophysically characterized these synapses, quantifying...

Publications

• Localization of inner hair cell mechanotransducer channels using high-speed calcium imaging. Beurg M, Fettiplace R, Nam JH, Ricci AJ. Nat Neurosci. 2009; 12 (5): 553-8
• Rethinking how hearing happens. Xu Z, Ricci AJ, Heller S. Neuron. 2009; 62 (3): 305-7
• Functional auditory hair cells produced in the mammalian cochlea by in utero gene transfer. Gubbels SP, Woessner DW, Mitchell JC, Ricci AJ, Brigande JV,. Nature. 2008: 455 537-541
• Functional auditory hair cells produced in the mammalian cochlea by in utero gene transfer. Gubbels SP, Woessner DW, Mitchell JC, Ricci AJ, Brigande JV. Nature. 2008; 455 (7212): 537-41
• Hair bundles teaming up to tune the mammalian cochlea. Prakash R, Ricci AJ. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008; 105 (48): 18651-2