Thomas L. Lentz, M.D.

Senior Research Scientist Professor of Cell Biology
Phone: (203) 785-4565 Fax: (203) 785-7446 e-mail: thomas.lentz@yale.edu		Department of Cell Biology Yale University School of Medicine 333 Cedar Street PO Box 208002 New Haven, CT 06520-8002 <Courier Address> 333 Cedar Street, SHM C-226 New Haven, CT 06510-3206

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Thomas L. Lentz has conducted scientific research in the fields of neurobiology and cell biology. He studied primitive nervous systems of lower invertebrates, such as hydra.

He investigated the development of the neuromuscular junction of vertebrates employing electron microscopy and cytochemistry. A procedure was developed for the high resolution localization of sites of acetylcholine receptors by means of horseradish peroxidase-labelled alpha-bungarotoxin. This technique was applied to the study of the localization of receptors at the mature and developing neuromuscular junction and central synapses. He performed research on trophic regulation of growth, regeneration, and differentiation by the nervous system. Other research involved investigation of functional domains on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor of the electric organ, muscle, and central nervous system. This work led to the identification of the alpha-bungarotoxin-binding and nicotine-binding sites on the receptor and identification of residues critical to binding. He studied whether the acetylcholine receptor serves as a host cell receptor for the highly neurotropic rabies virus. Agents were identified that might act as anti-viral agents by blocking the virus-receptor interaction. He most recently investigated the entry and transport of rabies virus in neurons.

In addition to his research activities, Thomas L. Lentz chaired the Committee on Admissions for the School of Medicine from 1972 to 2006.  He last served as Associate Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid.  He was Vice Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology from 1992 to 2006.  He retired in 2006 and is Senior Research Scientist and Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology.  He teaches the first year medical school course Cell Biology 503: Histology Laboratory and is Director of Laboratories for the course.

Selected Publications

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Lentz TL. (1966)  The Cell Biology of Hydra. North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam; Interscience (Wiley), New York, 199 pp . ISBN: 1114654809

Lentz TL. (1968)   Primitive Nervous Systems. Yale University Press, New Haven 148 pp.

Lentz TL. (1971)   Cell Fine Structure. An Atlas of Drawings of Whole-Cell Structure. Saunders, Philadelphia, 437 pp.  ISBN: 0721657184

Lentz TL, Mazurkiewicz JE, Rosenthal J. (1977)  Cytochemical localization of acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction by means of horseradish peroxidase-labeled alpha-bungarotoxin. Brain Res. 132: 423-442.  

Lentz TL, Burrage TG, Smith AL, Crick J, Tignor GH. (1982)  Is the acetylcholine receptor a rabies virus receptor? Science 215: 182-184.  

Lentz TL, Wilson PT, Hawrot E, Speicher DW. (1984)  Amino acid sequence similarity between rabies virus glycoprotein and snake venom curaremimetic neurotoxins. Science 226: 847-848.  

Wilson PT, Lentz TL, Hawrot E. (1985)  Determination of the primary amino acid sequence specifying the alpha-bungarotoxin binding site on the alpha-subunit of the acetylcholine receptor from Torpedo. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 82: 8790-8794.  

Lentz TL & Wilson PT. (1988)  Neurotoxin-binding site on the acetylcholine receptor. Int Rev Neurobiol. 29: 117-160.

Lentz TL. (1990)  The recognition event between virus and host cell receptor: a target for antiviral agents. J Gen Virol. 71: 751-766.

Chaturvedi V, Donnelly-Roberts DL, Lentz TL. (1993)  Effects of mutations of Torpedo acetylcholine receptor alpha1 subunit residues 184-200 on alpha-bungarotoxin binding in a recombinant fusion protein. Biochemistry 32: 9570-9576.  

Lewis P. & Lentz TL. (1998)  Rabies virus entry into cultured rat hippocampal neurons. J Neurocytol. 27: 559-573.  

Lewis P, Fu Y, Lentz TL. (2000)  Rabies virus entry at the neuromuscular junction in nerve-muscle cocultures. Muscle & Nerve 23: 720-730.  

Lentz TL. (2003)  Preparing for medical school. In: Donaldson, R. M., Jr., K. S. Lundgren, and H. Spiro, eds., The Yale Guide to Careers in Medicine and the Health Professions. Pathways to Medicine in the 21st Century. Yale Univ Press.  ISBN: 0300100299 

Lentz TL. (2003)  Rabies. In: Adelman, G. and B. H. Smith, eds., Encyclopedia of Neuroscience 3rd ed, Elsevier Science, Amsterdam.  ISBN: 0444514325 

 

Selected Figures

Modified from Cell Fine Structure. An Atlas of Drawings of Whole-Cell Structure. (1971)

 

Cultured rat hippocampal neurons infected with rabies virus for two days. Viral antigen fills the cell bodies and processes. The swellings along processes are synapses. FITC-labelled anti-rabies virus antibody. From J. Neurocytol., 27:559-573, 1998.

Neuromuscular Junction. Phase micrograph. A nerve fiber (NF) contacts a striated myotube. Dense varicosities occur at sites of nerve contact on the myotube surface.

 

 

 

Synapsin I Localization. Synapsin I is localized to the dense varicosities (arrows). Synapsin I also occurs in a particulate localization on the myotube surface, especially over the nucleus. The localization of synapsin I, a protein located on synaptic vesicles, shows that the varicosities represent neuromuscular junctions.

 

Rabies virus Localization. Rabies virus is colocalized with synapsin I in the surface densities (arrows). These results demonstrate preferential localization of rabies virus at neuromuscular junctions in nerve-muscle cocultures.

 

Localization of synapsin I and rabies virus in nerve-muscle cocultures after adsorption of virus at 4°C and warming to 37°C for 10 minutes. From Muscle & Nerve 23:720-730, 2000.