Hi, I’m Jon Murphy, a neurobiology researcher. Welcome to my personal website.

Bio

Originally from Portland, Oregon, I attended the University of Oregon and received a bachelors degree in Biochemistry. After undergraduate studies, I took a research position at Oregon Health Sciences University with Wei Fan and Roger Cone studying hypothalamic control of metabolism. I trained with Mark Dell’Acqua at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus where I obtained a PhD in Neuroscience. I am now a postdoctoral fellow with Dax Hoffman at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. I live in Washington, DC with my wife, two children, and a Bernedoodle.

Research

In the brain, neurons receive thousands of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs that modulate neuronal and circuit function. Synaptic input and neuronal firing cycles interact to regulate the activity of voltage-gated ion channels that, together with passive membrane properties, determine integration of synaptic input, firing rate, and circuit output. With an emphasis on voltage-gated ion channels, I am interested in the regulation of channel, neuron, and circuit properties by ion channel auxiliary subunits, protein-protein interactions, and posttranslational modifications. My research leverages quantitative electrophysiology, fluorescence imaging, and biochemical techniques to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms of excitability in neurons. Ultimately, my goal is to better understand how synaptic plasticity and hippocampus-dependent learning and memory is shaped by ion channel function under healthy conditions and in neuropathological states such as epilepsy and Fragile X Syndrome.

Papers

My Bibliography

Murphy, J.G.$, Gutzmann, J.J., Lin, L., Hu, J., Petralia, R.S., Wang, Y-X., Hoffman, D.A.$ R-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels mediate A-type K+ current regulation of synaptic input in hippocampal dendrites. Under Revision at Cell Reports; bioRxiv doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.27.119305

Bellotti, A., Murphy, J.G., Lin, L., Petralia, R., Wang, Y-X., Hoffman, D., O’Leary, T. Paradoxical relationships between active transport and global protein distributions in neurons. Biophysical Journal. 2021. In press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2021.02.048

Gray, E.E, Murphy, J.G., Liu, Y., Trang, I., Tabor, G.T., Lin, L., Hoffman, D.A. Disruption of GpI mGluR-dependent Cav2.3 translation in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome. Journal of Neuroscience. 2019, 39 (38) 7453-7464. PMID: 31350260

Tabor, G.T., Park, J., Murphy, J.G., Hu, J., Hoffman, D.A. A novel bungarotoxin binding site tagged construct reveals MAPK-dependent Kv4.2 trafficking. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience 2019, 98:121-130 PMID: 31212013

Murphy, J.G.@, Crosby, K.C.@, Dittmer, P.J., Sather, W.A., and Dell’Acqua, M.L. AKAP79/150 recruits the transcription factor NFAT to regulate signaling to the nucleus by neuronal L-type Ca2+ channels. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 2019, 30(14): 1743-1756 PMID: 31091162

Murphy, J.G.$ and Hoffman, D.A.$ A polybasic motif in alternatively spliced KChIP2 isoforms prevents Ca2+ regulation of Kv4 channels. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2019, 294(10): 3683-3695. PMID: 30622142

Lin, L., Murphy, J.G., Karlsson, R., Petralia, R.S., Gutzmann, J.J., Abebe, D., Wang, Y., Cameron, H.A., Hoffman, D.A. DPP6 loss impacts hippocampal synaptic development and induces behavioral impairments in recognition, learning, and memory. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience. 2018, 12(84). PMID: 29651237

Murphy, J.G., Sanderson, J.L, Gorski, J.A., Scott, J.D., Catterall, W.A., Sather, W.A., Dell’Acqua, M.L. AKAP-anchored PKA maintains neuronal L-type calcium channel activity and NFAT transcriptional signaling. Cell Reports. 2014, 7(5): 1577-1588. PMID: 24835999

Renquist, B.J., Murphy, J.G., Larson, E., Olsen, D., Klein, R.F., Ellacott, K.L.J., Cone, R.D. Regulation of Nutrient Partitioning by the Melanocortin-3 Receptor. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2012, 109(23): 1489-98. PMID: 22573815

Li, H., Pink, M.D., Murphy, J.G., Stein, A., Dell’Acqua, M.L., Hogan, P.G. Balanced interactions of calcineurin with AKAP79 regulate Ca2+-calcineurin-NFAT signaling. Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. 2012, 19: 337 - 345. PMID: 22343722

Ellacott, K.L., Murphy, J.G., Marks, D.L., Cone, R.D. Obesity-Induced Inflammation in white adipose tissue is attenuated by loss of melanocortin 3 receptor signaling. Endocrinology. 2007, 148(12): 6186-6194.

Qiu, J., Xue, C., Bosch, M.A., Murphy, J.G., Fan, W., Ronnekleiv, O.K., Kelly, M.J. Serotonin 5-HT2C receptor signalling in hypothalamic POMC neurons: Role in energy homeostasis in females. Molecular Pharmacology. 2007, 72(4): 885-896.

Voss-Andreae, A., Murphy, J.G., Ellacott, K.L., Stuart, R.C., Nillni, E.A., Cone, R.D., Fan, W. Role of the central melanocortin circuitry in adaptive thermogenesis of brown adipose tissue. Endocrinology. 2007, 148(4): 1550-60.

Selker, E. U., Tountas, N. A., Cross, S. H., Margolin, B. S., Murphy, J. G., Bird, A. P., and Freitag, M. The methylated component of the Neurospora crassa genome. Nature. 2003, 422(6934): 893-897.

@ equal contribution
$ co-corresponding author

Funding

2016 - 2019 FI2 NIGMS Postdoctoral Research Associate Training Fellowship; GM120004; “Regulation of local translation in neuronal dendrites of a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome”

Teaching

2019 (Fall) - BISC 2320 - Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC
2018 (Fall) - BISC 2202 - Cell Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC

Invited Seminars

2019 Ion Channel Regulation FASEB Summer Conference, Lisbon, Portugal
2019 Neurobiology Interest Group Seminar Series, National Insitutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
2018 Synaptic Transmission Gordon Research Conference, Waterville Valley, NH, USA
2017 Ion Channel Regulation FASEB Summer Conference, Steamboat Springs, CO, USA
2013 International Meeting on Anchored cAMP Signaling Pathways, Univ. of Colo., Anschutz Med. Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
2013 Dept of Pharmacology Student/Postdoc Research Day co-keynote speaker; Univ. of Colo., Anschutz Med. Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
2013 Society for Neuroscience Rocky Mountain Regional Neuroscience Group Meeting, Fort Collins, CO, USA

Service

2020 - Present: Review Editor; Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, section on cellular neurophysiology
2018 - Present: Member; Neurobiology Interest Group Seminar Organizing Committee, NIH