STEPHEN W. SCHEFF, Ph.D.

UK Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Faculty Research

STEPHEN W. SCHEFF, Ph.D.
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO (1974)
Postdoctoral Training at University of California at Irvine
Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Associate Director, Center on Aging

Research Interests: Synaptic changes and oxidative stress in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Neuropathology and cognitive dysfunction following traumatic brain injury

Dr. Scheff’s laboratory is involved in numerous projects related to the central nervous system’s ability to respond to injury and neurodegeneration. By employing animal models of a controlled CNS response to injury

cortical impact, it is possible to investigate specific cellular and molecular changes that play a pivotal role in both the anatomical and behavior outcome following trauma. The laboratory is interested in exploring possible pharmacologic interventions that can not only decrease the neurodegenerative cascades but enhance the probability of a more favorable outcome. These experiments are multidisciplinary in their approach and utilize numerous morphological, cellular and molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral techniques to probe some of the mechanisms behind the nervous system’s response.

Clinically, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by a progressive deterioration of an individual’s cognitive function, most clearly demonstrated by a loss of memory. One of the hallmarks of the disease is a loss of brain connectivity demonstrated by a loss of synapses in many association areas of the cortex. It is important to determine why the AD brain not only loses synapses but fails to mount a significant compensatory response. The laboratory uses human brain tissue from individuals with AD and compares it to tissue from individuals that are cognitively normal or show mild cognitive impairment. Current studies are evaluating changes in oxidative stress and neuroinflammation as possible important factors in the AD-related synaptic change.

Scheff, S.W., Price, D.A., Schmitt, F.A., and Mufson, E. Loss of synapses in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in early Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment. Neurobiology of Aging 2006 27:1372-1384.

Scheff, S.W. and Price, D.A. Alzheimer’s disease-related alterations in synaptic density: neocortex and hippocampus Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 2006 9:101-115

Scheff, S.W., Price, D.A., Schmitt, F.A., DeKosky, S.T., and Mufson, E.J. Synaptic alterations in CA1 in mild Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment. Neurology 2007 68:1501-1508.

Ansari, M., Roberts, K.N., and Scheff, S.W., A time course of oxidative stress and synaptic proteins in cortex of contusion induced rat model of TBI. Journal of Neurotrauma 2008 25:513-526.

Ansari, M., Roberts, K.N., and Scheff, S.W. Oxidative stress and modification of synaptic proteins in hippocampus after traumatic brain injury. Free Radical Biology & Medicine 2008 45:443-452.

Gilmer, L.K., Roberts, K.N., Joy, K., Sullivan, P.G., Scheff, S.W. Early mitochondrial dysfunction following cortical contusion injury. Journal of Neurotrauma 2009 26:1271-1280.

Norris, C.M. and Scheff, S.W. Recovery of afferent function and synaptic strength in hippocampal CA1 following traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma 2009 26:2269-2278.

Gilmer, L.K., Ansari, M.A., Roberts, K.N., Scheff, S.W., Age-related changes in mitochondrial respiration and oxidative damage in the cerebral cortex of the Fischer 344 rat. Mechanisms of Aging & Development, 2010 131:133-143.

Ansari, M.A. and Scheff, S.W., Oxidative stress in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the frontal cortex. Journal of Neuropathology Experimental Neurology. 2010 69:155-167.

Gilmer, L.K., Ansari, M.A., Roberts, K.N., Scheff, S.W. Age-related mitochondrial changes following traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma, 2010 27:939-950.

Hunt, R.F., Scheff, S.W., Smith, B.N. Regionally localized recurrent excitation in the dentate gyrus of a cortical contusion model of posttraumatic epilepsy. Journal of Neurophysiology. 2010 103:1490-1500.