Marie E. Burns, Ph.D.

Dr. Marie Burns

Director, Center for Neuroscience
Professor of Ophthalmology and Vision Science; Cell Biology and Human Anatomy

  • Core Faculty, Center for Neuroscience
Photoreceptor signaling and retinal physiology; neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration
 

Research Summary

The first steps in vision begin in the photoreceptors of the retina, which transduce photons of light into electrical signals. Our lab examines the biochemical and biophysical properties of signaling in photoreceptors, as well as the consequences of defective signaling on visual performance.

We are also trying to understand why and how photoreceptors die, which is the ultimate leading cause of blindness in humans. Photoreceptor degeneration, like all neurodegenerative diseases, leads to microglial activation and neuroinflammation. We are trying to understand the regulation of neuroinflammation, its relationship to neovascularization, and its helpful vs harmful consequences for perserving neuronal and synaptic function.

Select Publications

  • Karlen SJ, Ronning KE, & Burns ME. (2025) Progress in assessing retinal microglia using single-cell RNA sequencing. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1468:143-147. [PubMed]
  • Ronning KE, Karlen SJ, & Burns ME. (2022) Structural and functional distinctions of co-resident microglia and monocyte-derived macrophages after retinal degeneration. J Neuroinflammation. 19(1):299. [PubMed]
  • Miller EB, Karlen SJ, Ronning KE, & Burns ME. (2021) Tracking distinct microglia subpopulations with photoconvertible Dendra2 in vivo. J Neuroinflammation. 18(1):235. [PubMed]
  • Fortenbach C, Peinado Allina G, Shores CM, Karlen SJ, Miller EB, Bishop H, Trimmer JS, Burns ME, & Pugh EN Jr. (2021) Loss of the K+ channel Kv2.1 greatly reduces outward dark current and causes ionic dysregulation and degeneration in rod photoreceptors. J Gen Physiol. 153(2):e202012687 [PubMed]
  • Lewis TR, Shores CR, Cady MA, Hao Y, Arshavsky VY, & Burns ME. (2020) The F22oC and F45L rhodopsin mutations identified in retinitis pigmentosa patients do not cause pathology in mice. Sci Rep. 10(1):7538. [PubMed]
  • Karlen SJ, Miller EB, and Burns ME. (2020) Microglia Activation and Inflammation During the Death of Mammalian Photoreceptors. Annu Rev Vis Sci. Sep 15;6:149-169. [PubMed]
  • Miller EB, Zhang, P, Ching K, Pugh EN Jr., & Burns ME. (2019) In vivo imaging reveals transient microglia recruitment and functional recovery of photoreceptor signaling after injury. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116(33): 16603-16621. [PubMed]
  • Ronning KE, Karlen SJ, Miller EB, & Burns ME. (2019) Molecular profiling of resident and infiltrating mononuclear phagocytes during rapid adult retinal degeneration using single-cell RNA sequencing. Sci Rep. 9(1):4858. [PubMed]
  • Karlen SJ, Miller EB, Wang X, Levine ES, Zawadzki RJ, & Burns ME. (2018) Monocyte infiltration rather than microglia proliferation dominates the early immune response to rapid photoreceptor degeneration. J Neuroinflammation. 15(1):344. [PubMed]
  • Ronning KE, Allina GP, Miller EB, Zawadzki RJ, Pugh EN Jr, Herrmann R, & Burns ME. (2018) Loss of cone function without degeneration in a novel Gnat2 knock-out mouse. Exp Eye Res. 171:111-118. [PubMed]
  • Zhang P, Zawadzki RJ, Goswami M, Nguyen PT, Yarov-Yarovoy V, Burns ME, & Pugh EN Jr. (2017) In vivo optophysiology reveals that G-protein activation triggers osmotic swelling and increased light scattering of rod photoreceptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 114(14):E2937-E2946. [PubMed]

Affiliations

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Neuroscience

Graduate Group in Immunology