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Mechanisms Of Presynaptic Cav2 Calcium Channel Localization In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Yasunori Saheki
Mechanisms Of Presynaptic Cav2 Calcium Channel Localization In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Yasunori Saheki
Student Theses and Dissertations
Neurotransmitter release at nerve terminals is a fundamental aspect of communication in the nervous system. Voltage changes in the presynaptic membrane are sensed by presynaptic voltage-gated calcium channels that mediate calcium influx at the nerve terminals to execute exocytosis of various kinds of neurotransmitters. Defects in presynaptic calcium channels lead to many neurological disorders, emphasizing the importance of these channels in the regulation of neuronal activities in the brain. Previous physiological studies have focused on opening kinetics of the channels and their modulation by auxiliary subunits. Cell biological questions such as trafficking and clustering of the channels at the presynaptic …
Mechanisms For Maintaining Cell Identity In C.Elegans Olfactory Neurons, Bluma J. Lesch
Mechanisms For Maintaining Cell Identity In C.Elegans Olfactory Neurons, Bluma J. Lesch
Student Theses and Dissertations
Maintenance of cell identity is a complex process that depends on developmentally determined transcriptional states and on environmental input. In neurons, which are both highly differentiated and highly sensitive to external stimuli, maintenance of identity is especially challenging. In this thesis, I describe the isolation and characterization of several genes involved in maintaining the identities of two olfactory neuron subtypes, AWCON and AWCOFF, in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The AWCON and AWCOFF identities are specified by a stochastic decision during embryogenesis, but several of the genes involved in this embryonic decision are subsequently downregulated. Additional mechanisms must therefore act to …