Postdoctoral: Dr.
Richard L. Huganir, Department of Neuroscience / HHMI,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2003 - present.
Changes in synaptic strength and neuronal
connectivity are thought to be important for higher brain functions
such as learning and memory. The majority of fast excitatory synaptic
transmission in the brain is mediated by alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic
acid (AMPA) receptors (AMPARs). The dynamic equilibrium of AMPARs
trafficking in and out of synapses plays a critical role in the
determination of the strength of each synapse. Several neuronal
proteins, such as 4.1N and SAP97, are known to bind to the C-terminus
of AMPARs and these intracellular binding partners of AMPARs are
likely to play important roles in regulating AMPAR synaptic trafficking.
Receptor trafficking is a dynamic process, and directly visualizing
different steps of receptor trafficking using optical imaging approach
would allow one to better understand the underlying mechanisms
that regulate these processes. As a graduate student I gained extensive
experience with various optical imaging techniques in the laboratory
of Dr.
James D. Lechleiter. Since I joined Dr.
Richard L. Huganir's laboratory in 2003 as a postdoc fellow,
I have set up and applied various optical imaging techniques, in
combination with molecular, cellular, biochemical, as well as electrophysiological
techniques, to examine different aspects of AMPAR trafficking.
The following are some of the optical imaging techniques I used
in my research:
