2020-11-05 11:00 ~ 2020-11-05 12:00
地點: 生化所209室
主講人: 林宛蓁博士
主講人背景: 中央研究院生物醫學科學研究所助研究員
演講主持人: 林俊宏研究員&凌嘉鴻助研究員
演講摘要:
Neurotransmitters and their receptors are responsible for cell-cell communications in the nervous system. Due to their pivotal roles in signal detection and propagation, neurotransmitter receptors have long been therapeutic targets for neurological, psychiatric, and developmental disorders. However, the diversity in neurotransmitter receptors and the complexity of neural circuitry are both enormous, making the decoding of neurotransmission highly challenging. Breakthroughs await new technologies that enable control over neurotransmission mediators with high spatial, temporal, and biochemical precision in the brain. We integrate chemical, biochemical, and genetic approaches to develop such tools and methods, with a special focus on next-generation optogenetics. Optogenetics is a powerful technique for investigating complex biological phenomena such as cellular signaling and neuronal connectivity. Through the action of a light-sensitive protein, the physiology of a cell or an organism can be optically controlled in defined space and time. We develop strategies to: (1) engineer light-sensitive neurotransmitter receptors for precise manipulation of specific signaling components in the brain; and (2) optically control native neurotransmitter receptors in defined neuronal types or subcellular compartments. We establish our methodologies with type-A γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAA receptors), the master mediators of inhibitory neurotransmission. Ultimately, we aim to enable a comprehensive decoding of GABAergic signaling in the nervous system, and to provide generalizable approaches for optogenetic control of other neurotransmitter pathways.-林宛蓁博士
洽詢人員: 劉小姐
洽詢電話: 02-27855696#2061
洽詢信箱: liukchun@gate.sinica.edu.tw
中央研究院 生物化學研究所
