WILLIAM C. MICHEL
Professor of Physiology
e-mail: mike.michel@m.cc.utah.edu
Education
B.A., 1970-1975, Humboldt State University
M.A., 1975-1979, Humboldt State University
Ph.D., 1979-1985, University of California, Santa Barbara, Biological Sciences Post-doctoral Research Associate., 1985-1986, Dept. of Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Advisor, Dr. William M. Hamner. Post-doctoral Research Associate., 1986-1988, Dept. of Zoology and Physiology, Louisiana State University, Advisor, Dr. John Caprio. Post-doctoral Research Associate., 1989-1991, Whitney Laboratory, University of Florida, Advisor, Dr. Barry W. Ache.
Research Interests
Olfactory and gustatory physiology
Mechanisms involved in the processing of olfactory information are the interest of Dr. Michel. Transient or persistent changes in the odor environment will affect an olfactory neuron's ability to respond to odors. Electrophysiological and imaging methods are used to characterize the odor-activated transduction cascade(s) and to determine how these odor and voltage-activated processes contribute to sensory adaptation. Activity-dependent immunolabeling techniques are used to determine if prolonged odor exposure, beginning as early as during embryonic development, alters olfactory competence later in life. A similar approach is being used to functionally map the spatial distribution of odor-sensitive neurons in the mature olfactory neuroepithelium, to investigate the significantly larger odor-evoked responses of females and to examine the temporal onset of odor sensitivity during post-embryonic development.
Publications
(Go to the complete list in PDF Format.)
Michel, W.C., M.J. Sanderson, J.K. Olson and D.L. Lipschitz (submitted) Evidence of a novel transduction cascade mediating detection of polyamines by the zebrafish olfactory system. J. Exp. Biol.
Edwards, J.G. and W.C. Michel (2002) Odor-stimulated glutamatergic neurotransmission in the zebrafish olfactory bulb. J. Comp. Neurol. 454: 294-309.
Lipschitz, D.L. and W.C. Michel (2002) Microvillar olfactory sensory neurons detect amino acid odorants. Chem. Sens. 27: 277-286.
Steullet, P., H.S. Cate, W.C. Michel and C.D. Derby (2000) Functional units of a compound nose: Aesthetasc sensilla house similar populations of olfactory receptor neurons on the crustacean antennule. J. Comp. Neurol. 418: 270-280.
Michel, W.C. (1999) Cyclic nucleotide-gated channel activation is not required for activity dependent labeling of zebrafish olfactory receptor neurons by amino acids. Biol. Signals Recept. 8: 338-347.
Michel, W.C., P. Steullet, H.S. Cate, C.J. Burns, A.B. Zhainazarov and C.D. Derby (1999) High-resolution functional labeling of vertebrate and invertebrate olfactory receptor neurons using agmatine, a channel permeant cation. J. Neurosci. Meth. 90: 143-156.
Lipschitz, D.L. and W.C. Michel (1999) Physiological evidence for the discrimination of L-arginine from structural analogs by the zebrafish olfactory system. J. Neurophysiol. 82: 3160-3167.
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