Catherine Salussolia

1st Year Graduate Student

Department: Neurobiology & Behavior

Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Advisor: Lonnie Wollmuth

Abstract:

Title:  Dynamics of the Postsynaptic Density at Axodendritic and Axospinous Synapses in the Visual Cortex

Preceptor: Dr. Lonnie Wollmuth, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, SBU

Catherine L. Salussolia and Lonnie P. Wollmuth

Catherine Salussolia1, Gulcan Akgul2, Mark Bowen3 & Lonnie P. Wollmuth4

Programs in 1Neuroscience & 2Molecular Cellular Biology, Departments of 3Physiology and Biophysics and 4Neurobiology & Behavior, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794

Glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, is critical in learning and memory, and dysfunctions in glutamatergic transmission have been implicated in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and schizophrenia. Glutamatergic synapses have a post-synaptic density (PSD), an electron-dense matrix of glutamate receptors and scaffolding proteins, which is critical in regulating the distribution, number and properties of glutamate receptors. Although many of the individual components of the PSD have been identified, the structure and dynamics of these PSD proteins are not well understood. In the cortex, the cytoarchitecture of glutamatergic synapses varies depending on the postsynaptic cell type: axospinous for pyramidal and somatostatin-positive interneurons and axodendritic for parvalbumin-positive interneurons. PSD-95, the most prevalent membrane-associated guanylate- kinase, has been well studied in pyramidal to pyramidal connections, but its distribution and dynamics at pyramidal to interneuron synapses- either axospinous or axodendritic- is not known. Through the use of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), we hope to compare and contrast PSD-95 dynamics at axospinous and axodendritic synapses.

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

Salussolia, CL, Nalwalk JW, and Hough LB. (2007). Improgan-induced hypothermia: A role for cannabinoid receptors in improgan-induced changes in nociceptive threshold and body temperature. Brain Research. 1152: 42-48.