Apply

Andrew Koob

Andrew Koob headshot

Associate Professor

Biology

College of Arts and Sciences
860.768.5780 D 310C
Education

PhD, Purdue University

BA, Northwestern University


My research is in the field of cellular neurobiology, focusing on a brain cell called the astrocyte. Astrocytes modulate cognition through communication with neurons and other cells of the nervous system. We study factors involved in astrogenesis (growth of new astrocytes through proliferation) and causes of astrocyte dysfunction. Astrocyte dysfunction is an early predictor of neurological disease and the molecular mechanisms involved can provide insight into disease etiology. On the cellular level, astrocytes contribute to neuronal synaptic communication and growth, changes that underlie the basis of learning, which is dependent on healthy astrocytes. Similarly, local astrocyte proliferation occurs into adulthood, and determining what can stimulate or reduce adult astrogenesis could provide further understanding of cognitive processes or decline.

*Denotes Student Author

Andromidas, F.,* Mackinnon, B.E.,* Myers, A.J.,* Shaffer, M.M.,* Brahimi, A.,* Atasphpanjeh, S.,* Vazquez, T.L.,* Le, T.,* Jellison, E.R., Staurovsky, S., Koob, A.O. (2024) Astrocytes initiate autophagic flux and maintain cell viability after internalizing non-active native extracellular α-synuclein, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience 131.

Myers, A.J.,* Brahimi, A.,* Jenkins, I.J.,* and Koob, A.O. (2023) The Synucleins and the Astrocyte. Biology, 12: 155-172.

Koob, A.O. (2022) Astrocytes imagined, Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, 21(4): 112-119.

Andromidas, F.,* Atashpanjeh, S.,* Myers, A.J.,* MacKinnon, B.E.,* Shaffer, M.M.* and Koob, A.O. (2021) The astrogenic balance in the aging brain, Current Neuropharmacology, 19(11): 1952-1965.

Koob, A.O., Ballantyne, S., Levesque, A., Qureshi, A., Congdon S. (2021) Dopamine 4 receptor allele frequency as a lab exercise in neuroscience and genetics courses, Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education, 20(1): A1-A10.

Le., T.,* Winham, C.L.,* Andromidas, F.,* Silver, A.C., Jellison, E.R., Levesque, A.A., Koob, A.O. (2020) Chimera RNA interference of γ-synuclein in human cortical astrocytes results in cellular arrest and mitotic catastrophe. Neural Regeneration Research, 15:10: 1894-1902.

Winham, C.L.,* Le, T.,* Jellison, E., Silver, A.C., Levesque, A.A., Koob, A.O. (2019) γ-Synuclein Induces Cellular Proliferation and Subsequent BDNF Expression and Release in Human Cortical Astrocytes. Neuroscience, 410: 41-54.

Koob, A.O. and Sacchetti P. (2019) Astrocytes and the Synucleinopathies, Chapter 8 in Pathology, Prevention and Therapeutics of Neurodegenerative Disease, Springer Nature Singapore, eds. Sarika Singh, Neeraj Joshi, p. 81-102.

Koob, A.O. (2017) Astrogenesis versus astrogliosis. Neural Regeneration Research, 12(2) 203-204.

Mohn, T.C.* and Koob, A.O. (2015) Adult astrogenesis and the etiology of cortical neurodegeneration. Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, 9(2):25-34.

Koob, A.O., Shakked, G., Bender, A., Bisquerrt, A., Rockenstein, E. and Masliah, E., (2014) Increased expression of neurogranin and interaction with α-synuclein in Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Parkinson’s Disease, Brain Research, 1591: 102110.  

Koob, A.O. (2013) Protein level analysis from specific cell types in heterogeneous tissue. Chapter 1 in Recent Advances in Proteomics Research, ed. Ming Li, Nova Biomedical.

Koob, A.O., Bruns, L., Prassler, C.,* Masliah, E., Klopstock, T., and Bender, A., (2012), Protein analysis through Western blot of cells excised individually from human brain and muscle tissue with Laser Capture Microdissection, Analytical Biochemistry, 15;425(2):120-4.  

Koob A.O., Paulino A.D. and Masliah E. (2010) GFAP reactivity, apolipoprotein E redistribution and cholesterol reduction in human astrocytes treated with α-synuclein. Neuroscience Letters 469: 11-14.

Koob, A.O., (2009) The Root of Thought: Unlocking Glia: FT Science Press, Prentice Hall

Koob, A.O., Harris, B.T. and Duhaime A.C. (2008) Cellular genesis in the postnatal piglet, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 26 (6): p. 641646.

Koob, A.O. and Borgens, R.B. (2006) Polyethylene glycol treatment after traumatic brain injury reduces βamyloid precursor protein accumulation in degenerating axons, Journal of Neuroscience Research 83 (8): p. 1558-1563.

Koob, A.O., Cirillo, J. and Babbs, C.F. (2006) A novel activity box to determine spatial and temporal rat movement after injury and disease, Journal of Neuroscience Methods 157 (2): p. 330-336.