Jason M. Tucciarone

1st Year Medical Student

Department: School of Medicine

Graduate Program: TBD

Advisor: Josh Huang (rotation)

Abstract (rotation):

Advisor: Dr. Josh Huang, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Title:  

Inhibitory cells of the brain can be regarded in many ways as the “conductors” of information flow. These diverse classes of neurons come in an elaborate array of morphological patterns and synaptic distinctions, which characterize their function in very precise and specialized ways. Inhibitory cells have the remarkable capacity to alter both their synaptic properties and morphological distribution based on the ensemble of activity within neuronal networks. One can view this elaborate network of inhibitory cells as a labyrinthine jungle of synaptic regulation constantly “growing” and simultaneously “pruning” itself. The very complex nature of this network demands an understanding of common themes in its functional properties and synaptic structure, which constitute axons, dendrites and synapses. The key to this understanding is comprehensive visualization of the network at a high enough resolution to witness and measure neuronal activity. Genetic tagging of proteins involved in the regulation of the activity of inhibitory neurons is a powerful technique in that it allows for an activity dependent snapshot of biochemical events at bay during neuronal activity. The laboratory of Josh Huang has engineered adeno-associated viruses capable of expressing either GFP or dsRed in inhibitory and excitatory neurons, respectively, after Cre/loxP recombination regulated gene expression of the protein parvalbumin—an important calcium buffer located in inhibitory neurons. This allows cellular resolution of the structural properties of excitatory and inhibitory cells simultaneously. This technique holds tremendous promise in understanding the structural dynamic of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the in vivo rodent brain associated with neuronal plasticity, learning and neurological disease.

Layer 5 of the mouse Somatosensory Cortex labeled with AAV virus. Excitatory cells are labeled as red, while inhibitory parvalbumin containing cells are labeled green.

Publications:
(MSTP-supported publications indicated with an *)

Tucciarone J, Chuang KH, Dodd SJ, Silva A, Pelled G, Koretsky AP. Layer Specific Tracing of Cortical and Thalamic Connections Using Manganese Enhanced MRI. Neuroimage. 2008. Ahead of print.

Silva A, Lee JH, Wu WH, Tucciarone J, Aoki I, Koretsky AP. Cortical Laminar Architecture Detected Non-Invasively Using Manganese Enhanced MRI. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2008. 167(2): 246-257.

Abstracts:

Tucciarone J and Koretsky AP. Detection of Thalamocortical Inputs to the Rat Whisker Barrel Field Using Manganese Enahnced MRI. 16th Annual Conference for the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2008 Toronto, Canada

Tucciarone J, Pelled G, Chuang KH, Koretsky AP. Laminar Specific Tracing of Somatosensory Pathways Using Manganese Enhanced MRI. 15th Annual Conference for the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine(ISMRM) 2008 Berlin, Germany.

Pelled G, Anderson A, Tucciarone J, Iadarola M, Koretsky AP. Lamiar Specific MEMRI Enhancement of the Rat Spinal Cord In Vivo. 15th Annual Conference for the ISMRM (2007).

Tucciarone J, Pelled G, Chuang KH, Koretsky AP. Manganese Enhanced MRI of Somatosensory Pathways: Applications for Plasticity Studies. Post-Bac IRTA Research Festival, NIH (2006).

Tucciarone J, Olberg R, Rothman DL. Brain Metabolic Adaptations During Type I Diabetes Mellitus Hypoglycemic Unawareness. Union College Steinmetz Research Symposium. (2005).