Assist. Prof
Gary
Lawrence
Academic biography
Dr Gary Lawrence is Assistant Professor of Molecular Neurobiology in the School of
Biotechnology at Dublin City University. His research interests are in functional neurobiology as it relates to human health, with a particular focus on the use of neurotoxins to elucidate nervous system function and as therapeutics for the treatment of a wide range of peripheral neuropathologies.
Gary has worked in Molecular Neurobiology for over 25 years. He studied for his doctorate degree at Imperial College London, where he investigated therole of SNAREs in the catalysis of Ca2+ regulated transmitterrelease from neuroendocrine cells. During a subsequent post-doctoral period in Imperial College he discovered that botulinum neurotoxin type C cleaves SNAP-25 as well as syntaxin, the first example of a botulinum protease cleaving more than one SNARE. Gary joined DCU as a Research Lecturer when Prof. Oliver Dolly established the International Centre for Neurotherapeutics in 2003, before entering the School of Biotechnology as an Assistant Professor in 2023. Gary continues to investigate the effects of botulinum neurotoxins on various divisions of the peripheral nervous system in vitro and in vivo, ranging from skeletal muscle motor neurons to sympathetic nerves, parasympathetic nerves, and the sensory neurons involved in sensation and pain. His research encompasses the effects of botulinum neurotoxins on diverse processes, including synaptic neurotransmission, neuropeptide exocytosis, membrane protein trafficking and axonal growth. Recent research and publications from the Lawrence group have focused on how transient receptor potential (TRP) channels encode pain-related signal intensity, and the role of membrane trafficking of TRP channels in the sensitisation of
Deciphering molecular events in the ubiquitous process for the release of chemical transmitters from different nerve types, by Ca2+-regulated exocytosis. Neurotransmitter release /neurotransmission from different peripheral neuron types (sensory, motor, sympathetic or parasympathetic) is studied using primary neuron cultures, in tissues and in vivo. Botulinum toxins are used to potently and selectively inactivate key proteins called SNAREs that catalyse membrane fusion, a critical step in the release from nerves of chemical transmitters stored inside intracellular membrane vesicles. Key goals are to distinguish the distinct contributions of individual SNAREs to exocytosis from different neuron types, decipher their differential regulation by intracellular calcium ion concentrations, and to delineate neuron types most susceptible to the botulinum toxins. Research interests