Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience
Characterizing The Roles Of The Variable Linker And Hub Domains In Camkii Activation, Noelle Dziedzic
Characterizing The Roles Of The Variable Linker And Hub Domains In Camkii Activation, Noelle Dziedzic
Doctoral Dissertations
Learning and memory formation at the cellular level involves decoding complex electrochemical signals between nerve cells, or neurons. Understanding these processes at the molecular level requires a comprehensive study of calcium-sensitive proteins that serve as signal mediators within cells. More specifically, the protein calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is a key regulator of downstream cellular signaling events in the brain, playing an important role in long term memory formation. CaMKII is encoded in humans on four different genes: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. For added complexity, each of these gene products can be alternatively spliced and translated into multiple protein …
Chemical Biology-Based Probes For The Labeling Of Targets On Live Cells, Amanda M. Hussey
Chemical Biology-Based Probes For The Labeling Of Targets On Live Cells, Amanda M. Hussey
Doctoral Dissertations
Proper detection is the key to studying any processes on the cellular scale. Nowhere is this more evident than in the tight space which confines the synaptic cleft. Being able to ascertain the location of receptors on live neurons is fundamental to our understanding of not only how these receptors interact and move inside the cell but also how neurons function. Most detection methods rely on significantly altering the receptor; both tagging with a fluorescent protein or targeting the receptor by a fluorescent reporter in the form of a small molecule causes significant difficulties. These localization techniques often result in …
Novel Strategies To Modulate Synaptic Communication And Investigate The Role Of Hdac6 In Alzheimer’S Disease, Kathryne A. Medeiros
Novel Strategies To Modulate Synaptic Communication And Investigate The Role Of Hdac6 In Alzheimer’S Disease, Kathryne A. Medeiros
Doctoral Dissertations
Neuronal communication is mediated by chemical signaling at the synapse. The underlying molecular mechanisms of learning and memory are poorly understood. Very few tools are available to study how memories are formed in the mammalian brain. This dissertation focuses on developing novel strategies to study neural activity. Here we develop and use a chemical-genetic approach to enable target-specific photocontrol of inhibitory synaptic neurotransmission of GABAA receptor subtypes. The tools developed here selectively photocontrolled GABAA receptor subtypes. This enabled the investigation of the functional role these receptor subtypes have in inhibitory synaptic neurotransmission. This dissertation also focuses on identifying …
Functional Analysis Of Corazonin And Its Receptor In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kai Sha
Functional Analysis Of Corazonin And Its Receptor In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kai Sha
Doctoral Dissertations
Corazonin (Crz) is an amidated undecapeptide originally isolated from the American cockroach. It has been shown to affect diverse physiological functions in a species-specific manner. However, the functionality of Crz in Drosophila melanogaster has not yet been determined. To gain insight into the role of Crz signaling in vivo, Crz and CrzR null alleles were obtained by transposable element mobilization. Flies carrying a deficiency uncovering Crz and pr-set7 loci were generated via P-element excision, and the latter was rescued by wild-type pr-set7 transgene. A mutation of Crz receptor (CrzR) was generated by Minos-element mobilization from …