Baucum Laboratory

The Baucum laboratory located in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Indiana University School of Medicine on the IUPUI campus focuses on the functional regulation of the highly promiscuous phosphatase, protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) by the major homologous synaptic PP1 targeting proteins, spinophilin and neurabin. The overarching goal is to understand how these proteins regulate both PP1 targeting to, and activity at, specific substrates.

We focus on the role of spinophilin and neurabin in multiple brain regions and within the periphery. Currently, our studies focus on the striatum, hippocampus, and cerebellum within the brain and the pancreatic islets within the periphery. We strive to provide mechanistic insight into both normal PP1 signaling as well as how this signaling is perturbed in myriad disorders, neurodivergences, and disease states, including: drug use and misuse, parkinson disease, ataxias, and obesity and diabetes.