Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry

University of Alaska Fairbanks

PO Box 6150

Fairbanks, AK 99775-6150

After completing his undergraduate work in Chemistry at the Frodham University, New York, followed by an M.S. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Alaska, Larry Duffy received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1977. Following postdoctoral positions at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, Nutley, NJ, and the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, he was appointed Assistant Professor in 1983 at the Harvard Medical School. Larry Duffy joined the University of Alaska Fairbanks as Associate Professor in 1987 and was promoted to Full Professor in 1991.

(907) 474-7525

fychem@uaf.edu

Duffy Homepage

RESEARCH INTERESTS OF THE DUFFY LABORATORY

I am developing the theme of neuroprotection and coupling it with extreme environments after I observed the large variation in melatonin levels in Alaskans - the only published data for high latitude Alaskans (Arct. Med. Res., 1994). Because of melatonin's effect on the immune system (Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 1995) and the report that the presence of amyloid can lead to the production of free radicals, we moved forward developing a brain slice culture system (Neuroreport, 2001) and demonstrated that melatonin can reduce free radical damage caused by amyloid. We also showed that melatonin reduced damage by the brain's immune system by inhibiting the Il-1 increases caused by amyloid (Chemical-Biological Interactions, 2001). This research has also major implications for the treatment of strokes. However, I am most excited about the theme of "Neuroprotection in Extreme Environments" having taken hold in Alaska's research community. With the hiring of several young neuroscientists over the last several years, we have been able to establish with a large grant from NIH the "Alaska Basic Neuroscience Program". Research projects in neuroscience and behavior is one of the best approaches to interesting minority students in the area of health care and medical research.

Since the Exxon Valdez oil spill, I have broadened my research activity in the area of wildlife and human environmental health. The oil spill focused my attention on the need to develop biomarkers to monitor and asses the health of wildlife populations. Initially we focused on the easy to measure blood protein haptoglobin and we quickly showed injury to a population of river otters in Prince Williams Sound (J. Wildlife Dis., 1993). We expanded these studies to the immune system (Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 1994) and the heme synthesis system (Biomarkers, 1996). The haptoglobin method was quickly adopted by other Alaskan researchers and even by clinical labs in zoological parks. These studies demonstrated that the chronic exposure could be measured biochemically in mammals not only showing damage to a resource, but also demonstrate recovery of the ecosystem (J. Wildlife Dis., in press). We also showed that the porphyrins of the heme system work well as a non-invasive biomarker (Marine Pollut. Bull., 2000; Environ. Sci. and Toxicol., 2001).

Biomarkers in human health research led us back to wildlife and fish, but this time in regard to mercury in humans and the fish Alaskans consume (Comp. Biochem. Physiol., 1999). Our work on mercury in subsistence food has been used by policy makers on the national level and again has allowed me to get undergraduate students involved in research (ALCES, in press) including Alaskan natives.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Clapp-Lilly KL, Smith MA, Perry G, Harris PL, Zhu X, Duffy LK (2001) Melatonin acts as antioxidant and prooxidant in an organotypic slice culture model of Alzheimer's Disease. Neuroreport 12:1277-1280.

Duffy LK, Rodgers T, Patton M, Scofield E, Bowyer RT (1999) Baseline levels of mercury HSP70 and HSP 60 in subsistence fish from the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta Region of Alaska. Comp. Biochem. Physiol.124:181-186.

Yanker BA, Caceres A, Duffy LK (1990) Nerve growth factor potentiates the neurotoxicity of b-amyloid. Proc. Nation. Acad. Science USA 87:9020-9023.

Yanker BA, Duffy LK, Kirschner DA (1990) Neurotrophic and neurotoxic effects of b-amyloid: Reversal by tachykinin neuropeptides. Science 250:279-282.

Duffy LK, Kurosky A, Peterson JW (1981) Covalent structure of the b-chain of the A subunit of cholera toxin. J. Biol. Chem. 256:12252-12256.