Contact Information

(267) 519-4668

Rocky Parker

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education

Ph.D., Zoology (Endocrinology/Chemical Ecology); Oregon State University

Research Summary

I am primarily interested in the interaction between endocrine signaling and the chemical senses. Specifically, I study the role that steroid hormones play in the production and perception of chemical signals. My previous research revealed which sex hormones regulate pheromone expression in a reptile model, but I am now using molecular techniques in the mouse model to determine whether and by what mechanisms steroid hormones affect the taste system, especially sweet- and umami-sensing type 2 taste cells. I integrate multiple techniques (immunohistochemistry, qPCR, microsurgery, taste bioassays) and use transgenic mouse lines (T1R3-GFP, knockouts) to reveal how steroid signaling regulates the biology of type 2 taste cells.

Taste is a sense that is intimately associated with the human experience, and dysfunction in this chemical sense can affect quality of life. Many medications affecting steroid synthesis and signaling can induce taste dysfunction, suggesting that the taste bud relies on steroid signaling for its proper function. Further, the sense of taste in humans declines with age and reflects hormonal state. Insight gained from my research will inform the fields of gustation, diabetes, obesity, and geriatrics.

Keywords

taste, hormones, taste receptors, T1R3, TAS1R3, molecular biology, mice, immunohistochemistry, PCR

Recent Publications

Parker, M.R. and R. Mason. (In press) “How to make a sexy snake: estrogen activation of female sex pheromone in male garter snakes.” Journal of Experimental Biology.

Parker, M. R., & Mason, R. T. (2011) “Pheromones in snakes: history, patterns and future research directions.” In Reproductive Biology and Phylogeny of Snakes Aldridge, D., & Sever, D., eds. CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL. 551-572.

Mason, R. T., & Parker, M. R. (2010) “Social behavior and pheromonal communication in reptiles.” Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology 196(10):729-749. DOI: 10.1007/s00359-010-0551-3.

Parker, M. R., & Mason, R. T. (2009) “Low temperature dormancy affects the quantity and quality of the female sexual attractiveness pheromone in garter snakes.” Journal of Chemical Ecology 35:1234-1241.