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Koerber HR, Mirnics K. (1995) Morphology of functional long-ranging primary afferent projections in the cat spinal cord. J Neurophysiol, 74: 2336-2348.
Koerber HR, Mirnics K, Mendell LM. (1995) Properties of regenerated primary afferents and their functional connections. J Neurophysiol, 73: 693-702.
Koerber HR, Mirnics K. (1996) Plasticity of dorsal horn cell receptive fields after peripheral nerve regeneration. J Neurophysiol, 75: 2255-2267.
Koerber HR, Mirnics K, Kavookjian AM, Light AR. (1999) Ultrastructural analysis of ectopic synaptic boutons arising from peripherally regenerated primary afferent fibers.
J Neurophysiol, 81: 1636-1644.
Koerber HR, Mirnics K, Lawson JJ. (2006) Synaptic plasticity in the adult spinal dorsal horn: the appearance of new functional connections following peripheral nerve regeneration. Exp Neurol, 200: 468-479.
Korade Z, Kenchappa RS, Mirnics K, Carter BD. (2008) NRIF is a Regulator of Neuronal Cholesterol Biosynthesis Genes. J Mol Neurosci.
Korade Z, Kenworthy AK, Mirnics K. (2009) Molecular consequences of altered neuronal cholesterol biosynthesis. J Neurosci Res, 87: 866-875.
Krystal JH, Carter CS, ..., Mirnics K, ..., Young EA, McCandless R, authors). (2008) It is time to take a stand for medical research and against terrorism targeting medical scientists. Biol Psychiatry, 63: 725-727.
Lintas C, Sacco R, Garbett K, Mirnics K, Militerni R, Bravaccio C, Curatolo P, Manzi B, Schneider C, Melmed R, Elia M, Pascucci T, Puglisi-Allegra S, Reichelt KL, Persico AM. (2009) Involvement of the PRKCB1 gene in autistic disorder: significant genetic association and reduced neocortical gene expression. Mol Psychiatry, 14: 705- 718.
Mirnics K, Koerber HR. (1995) Prenatal development of rat primary afferent fibers: II.
Central projections. J Comp Neurol, 355: 601-614.
Mirnics K, Koerber HR. (1995) Prenatal development of rat primary afferent fibers: I.
Peripheral projections. J Comp Neurol, 355: 589-600.
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Mirnics K, Koerber HR. (1997) Properties of individual embryonic primary afferents and their spinal projections in the rat. J Neurophysiol, 78: 1590-1600.
Mirnics ZK, Caudell E, Gao Y, Kuwahara K, Sakaguchi N, Kurosaki T, Burnside J, Mirnics K, Corey SJ. (2004) Microarray analysis of Lyn-deficient B cells reveals germinal center-associated nuclear protein and other genes associated with the lymphoid germinal center. J Immunol, 172: 4133-4141.
Mirnics ZK, Yan C, Portugal C, Kim TW, Saragovi HU, Sisodia SS, Mirnics K, Schor NF. (2005) P75 neurotrophin receptor regulates expression of neural cell adhesion molecule 1. Neurobiol Dis, 20: 969-985.
Sabatini MJ, Ebert P, Lewis DA, Levitt P, Cameron JL, Mirnics K. (2007) Amygdala gene expression correlates of social behavior in monkeys experiencing maternal separation. J Neurosci, 27: 3295-3304.
90 13. ACKNOWLEDGENTS
I dedicate this thesis to Željka, Marco and Emma.
First and foremost, I have to thank my wife, Dr. Željka Korade, for everything – her love and support, our wonderful family life, tremendous kids (Emma and Marco), scientific wisdom, patience and self-sacrifice for advancement of my career. Without her at my side, it would not be worth anything.
I also wish to thank my PhD advisor, Prof. Dr. Gábor Faludi from the bottom of my heart – for providing guidance over the years, scientifically challenging me and for being a wonderful friend. He found a way to link me back to the Hungarian scientific community, to rekindle my Hungarian identity, to show me my scientific roots.
I am very grateful for the guidance, help and challenge of my committee members.
Next, I am eternally grateful to SOTE PhD School for giving me a chance to formally become part of the SOTE Alma Mater. I am extremely proud to be a SOTE graduate; it means a World to me. I also need to thank Tímea Rab, for helping me navigate through the maze of paperwork with kindness and patience.
I also need to acknowledge my parents, who raised me to love, be curious and have an open mind. I wish to thank for the guidance of my teachers, mentors and colleagues who helped me grow and skilled me to believe in myself: Dr. István Görög from Orebić, Croatia, who taught me dedication and unwavering spirit; Kornelija Djaković- Švjacer (University of Novi Sad), who showed me how to love science, Dr. David A.
Lewis (U of Pittsburgh), for shaping me into a rigorous scientist and Dr. Miklós Palkovits (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) for continuously amazing me with his scientific and social insights and blazing spirit. However, from all my teachers Dr. Pat Levitt (University of Southern California) had the most influence on my career and scientific thinking. He has been a tremendous mentor, an admired colleague, and a father figure to me over the years, and his friendship and wisdom will stay with me till the rest of my life.
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Finally, I have to thank for all the scientists who worked for me and with me over the years, and who are too numerous to name individually. They critically shaped my scientific thinking over the years, and some of the best studies arose from their ideas, thus my success is their success, too.
Most of the research presented here was performed on postmortem brain tissue. I want to thank the donor families for their generosity at their time of sorrow and loss – without their gift none of this research would have been possible.
Over the years our research has received substantial funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Aging (NIA), National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and Eli Lilly and Company. I am thankful to all of them for funding our research.
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APPENDIX 1.
Mirnics K, Middleton FA, Marquez A, Lewis DA, Levitt P.
(2000) Molecular characterization of schizophrenia viewed by microarray analysis of gene expression in prefrontal cortex.
Neuron, 28: 53-67.
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APPENDIX 2.
Middleton FA, Mirnics K, Pierri JN, Lewis DA, Levitt P. (2002) Gene expression profiling reveals alterations of specific
metabolic pathways in schizophrenia. J Neurosci, 22: 2718-29.
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APPENDIX 3.
Middleton FA, Peng L, Lewis DA, Levitt P, Mirnics K. (2005) Altered expression of 14-3-3 genes in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology, 30:
974-83.
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APPENDIX 4.
Arion D, Unger T, Lewis DA, Levitt P, Mirnics K. (2007)
Molecular evidence for increased expression of genes related to
immune and chaperone function in the prefrontal cortex in
schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry, 62: 711-21.
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