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Lisa Monteggia

Professor of Pharmacology, Psychology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute

Dr. Lisa Monteggia is the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and Professor of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Monteggia completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, receiving a B.S. in Microbiology and then a M.S. in Biology. Dr. Monteggia then worked for several years in a pharmaceutical company where she was promoted to the level of Scientist. Concurrently, Dr. Monteggia attended the Chicago Medical School receiving a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and working with Dr. Marina Wolf in the area of drug abuse. Dr. Monteggia then moved to Yale University to complete a fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Eric Nestler in the area of molecular psychiatry. Dr. Monteggia joined the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center where she held the Ginny and John Eulich Professorship in Autism Spectrum Disorders and was Professor of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern Medical Center before moving to Vanderbilt in 2018.

Lab Website

Representative Publications

Lin PY, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2018) Genetic dissection of pre- and postsynaptic BDNF-TrkB signaling in synaptic efficacy of CA3-CA1 synapses. Cell Reports, in press.

Monteggia LM, Lin PY, Adachi M, Kavalali ET (2018) Behavioral analysis of SNAP-25 and Synaptobrevin-2 haploinsufficiency in mice. Neuroscience, in press.

Monteggia LM, Heimer H, Nestler EJ (2018) Can we make animal models of human mental illness? Biol Psychiatry, in press.

Horvath PM, Monteggia LM (2017) Engineering MeCP2 to spy on its targets. Nature Medicine 41(2):72-74.

Gideons ES, Lin PY, Mahgoub M, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2017) Chronic lithium treatment elicits its antimanic effects via BDNF-TrkB dependent synaptic downscaling. eLife 6. Pii: e25480.

Suzuki K, Nosyreva E, Hunt KW, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2017) The ketamine metabolite hydroxynorketamine impacts downstream signaling via NMDA receptor inhibition. Nature 546(7659):E1-E3.

Horvath P, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2017) CRISPR/Cas9 system mediated impairment of synaptobrevin/VAMP function in postmitotic hippocampal neurons. J Neurosci Methods 278:57-64.

Adachi M, Autry AE, Mahgoub M, Suzuki K, Monteggia LM (2017) TrkB Signaling in Dorsal Raphe Nucleus is Essential for Antidepressant Efficacy. Neuropsychopharm 42(4):886-894.

Mahgoub M, Adachi M, Suzuki K, Liu X, Kavalali ET, Chahrour M, Monteggia LM (2016) MeCP2 and Histone Deacetylases 1 and 2 in Dorsal Striatum Collectively Suppress Repetitive Behaviors. Nature Neurosci (in press).

Morris JM, Na ES, Autry AE, Monteggia LM (2016) Impact of DNMT1 and DNMT3a forebrain knockout on depressive- and anxiety like behavior in mice. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (in press).

Monteggia LM (2016) Toward Better Animal Models for Molecular Psychiatry. Biol Psychiatry 79(1):2-3.Monteggia LM, Zarate C Jr (2015)

Antidepressant actions of ketamine: from molecular mechanisms to clinical practice. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 30:139-143.

Adachi M, Lin P-Y, Pranav H, Monteggia LM (2015) Postnatal loss of Mef2c results in dissociation of effects on synapse number and learning and memory deficits. Biol Psychiatry [epub Oct 8, 2015].

Monteggia LM, Malenka RC, Deisseroth K (2014) Depression: The best way forward. Nature 515:200-201.

Gideons ES, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2014) Mechanisms underlying differential effectiveness of memantine and ketamine in rapid antidepressant responses. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 111(23):8649-8655.

Morris MJ, Na ES, Adachi M, Monteggia LM (2014) Selective role for DNMT3a in learning and memory. Neurobiol Learn Mem S1074-7427(14)00119-1.

Mahgoub M, Monteggia LM (2014) A role for histone deacetylases in the cellular and behavioral mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Learn Mem 21(10):564-568.

Nosyreva E, Szabla K, Autry AE, Ryazanov AG, Monteggia LM, Kavalali ET (2013) Acute suppression of spontaneous neurotransmission drives synaptic potentiation. J Neurosci, 33(16):6990-7002.

Costa-Mattioli M, Monteggia LM (2013) mTOR complexes in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders Nature Neuroscience 16(11):1537-1543.

Monteggia LM, Kavalali ET (2013) Scopolamine and ketamine: evidence of convergence? Biological Psychiatry 74(10):712-713.

Nosyreva E, Szabla K, Autry AE, Ryazanov AG, Monteggia LM, Kavalali ET (2013) Acute suppression of spontaneous neurotransmission drives synaptic potentiation. J Neurosci, 33(16):6990-7002.

Morris MJ, Na ES, Mahgoub M, Pranav H, Monteggia LM (2013) Loss of histone deacetylase 2 improves working memory and accelerates extinction learning. J Neurosci. 33(15):6401-6411.

Monteggia LM, Kavalali ET (2012) How does light drive depressive-like behavior? Nature 491(7425):537-538.

Kim M-S, Akhtar MW, Adachi M, Mahgoub M, Bassel-Duby R, Kavalali ET, Olson EN, Monteggia LM. (2012) An essential role for histone deacetylase 4 in synaptic plasticity and memory formation. J Neurosci 32(32):10879-10886.

Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2012) Synaptic mechanisms underlying rapid antidepressant action of ketamine. Am J Psychiatry 169(11):1150-1156.

Na ES, Nelson ED, Adachi M, Autry AE, Mahgoub MA, Jaenisch R, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2012) A mouse model for MeCP2 duplication syndrome: MeCP2 overexpression impairs learning and memory and synaptic transmission. J Neuroscience 32(9):3109-3117.

Autry A. E., Adachi M., Nosyreva E, Na ES, Los MF, Cheng P, Kavalali, ET, Monteggia LM (2011) NMDA Receptor Blockade at Rest Triggers Rapid Behavioural Antidepressant Responses. Nature 275(7354):91-95.

Autry AE, Monteggia LM (2012) BDNF and Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Pharmacological Reviews 64(2):238-258.

Nelson ED, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2011) Selective Impact of MeCP2 and associated Histone Deacetylases on the Dynamics of Evoked Excitatory Neurotransmission. J Neurophysiol 106(1):193-201.

Akhtar MW, Raingo J, Nelson ED, Montgomery RL, Olson EN, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2009) Histone deacetylases 1 and 2 form a developmental switch that controls excitatory synapse maturation and function. J Neurosci 29(25):8288-97.

Autry AE, Adachi M, Cheng P, Monteggia LM (2009) Gender Specific Impact of BDNF signaling on Stress-Induced Depression-Like Behavior. Biol Psychiatry, 66(1):84-90.

Adachi M, Autry AE, Covington HE 3rd, Monteggia LM (2009) MeCP2-mediated Transcription Repression in the basolateral amygdala may underlie heightened anxiety in a mouse model of Rett Syndrome. J Neurosci 29(13):4218-4227.

Nelson ED, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2008) Activity-dependent suppression of miniature neurotransmission through the regulation of DNA methylation. J Neurosci 28(2):395-406.

Adachi M, Barrot M, Autry A, Theobald D, Monteggia LM (2008) Selective loss of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the dentate gyrus attenuates antidepressant efficacy. Biol Psychiatry 63:642-649.

Hensler JG, Advani T, Monteggia LM (2007) Regulation of 5-HT1A receptor function in inducible BDNF knock-out mice following administration of corticosterone. Biol Psychiatry 62(5):521-529.

Monteggia LM, Luikart B, Barrot M, Nef S, Parada LF, Nestler EJ. (2007) BDNF Conditional Knockouts Show Gender Differences in Depression Related Behaviors. Biol Psychiatry, 61(2):187-197.

Mahgoub MA, Sara Y, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2006) Reciprocal interaction of activity and 5-HT in regulation of CRE-dependent gene expression. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 317(1):88-96.

Gemelli T, Berton O, Nelson E, Perroti LI, Jaenisch R, Monteggia LM (2006) Postnatal loss of MeCP2 in the forebrain is sufficient to mediate behavioral aspects of Rett Syndrome in mice. Biol Psychiatry, 59(5):468-476.

Nelson E, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM (2006) MeCP2-dependent transcriptional repression regulates excitatory neurotransmission. Current Biology 16:710-716.

Monteggia LM, Barrot M, Powell C, Berton O, Galanis V, Nagy A, Greene RW, Nestler EJ (2004) Essential Role of BDNF in Adult Hippocampal Function and Depression. Proc Natl Acad Sci, 101(29):10827-10832.