PBIO SEMINAR SERIES

Organelles and Trafficking Machinery for Neuronal Plasticity

Wednesday - November 02, 2005
05-06 SEMINAR SERIES

Mike Ehlers
Assistant Professor Duke University
Speaker's website

Host: Jane Sullivan

The remodeling of synapses is a fundamental mechanism for information storage and processing in the brain. Much of this remodeling involves the transport of proteins to and from the postsynaptic membrane via dendritic trafficking events that remain poorly understood. Here I will describe research in my laboratory directed at understanding the organelles and mechanisms for protein trafficking and turnover in dendrites. Our goal is to uncover the relationship of this core cellular machinery to synapse formation and function. Such mechanisms are crucial for the initial establishment of postsynaptic specializations during synaptogenesis, and for activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength that underlie experience-dependent plasticity.