Regulación del poro de fusión exocitótico por proteínas
Reference: BFU2006-13647
Starting date: September  2006
Amount: 112.000 euros

MOTIVATION

Understand how synaptic terminals release neurotransmitter and how synaptic vesicles are recycled

Hippocampal neurons n culture making synaptic contacts among themselves. The brighter spots are synaptic buttons stained with synaptopHluorin, a synaptic vesicle marker

APPROACH

To monitor exocytosis and endocytosis with maximal time and spatial resolution. We try to monitor single synaptic vesicles with a miliseconds time resolution, spatial of nanometers and a sensitivity in cell membrane capacaitance measurements of attofarads.

Project: From molecules to networks: Understanding the physiology and patophysiology in the brain through mouse models.

VI Framework Programme of the European Union. Integrated Project

Coordinator: Reinhard Jahn and Joachim Bormann (Max Planck Institute, Goettingen, Germany)

The involvement of synapses in many neurological diseases – “synaptopathies” – is becoming increasingly apparent in recent years. Yet, despite considerable advances in our understanding of the processes of synaptic transmission and plasticity, much remains to be delineated with respect to the molecular details of the individual steps in these processes. Our aim is to further our understanding of synaptic function using a multi-systems approach, from in vitro cell free systems to in vivo models, taking full advantage of genetic mouse models, particularly those serving as models for synaptic dysfunction in neurological disease. Innovative and state of the art technologies will be applied and further developed, including biochemical, molecular, electrophysiological, and optical tools. We will derive detailed knowledge of molecular machineries that drive synaptic transmission and of mechanisms responsible for various forms of synaptic plasticity. We expect that these studies will provide invaluable insights into synaptic function and dysfunction and their contribution to complex brain functions in health and disease.

Página WEB de EUSynapse          

Visualization of molecular events involved in endocytosis at the synapse

Guillermo Alvarez de Toledo
Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics
School of Medicine
University of Seville. SPAIN

Rafael Fernández-Chacón
Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics
School of Medicine
University of Seville. SPAIN

Jurgen Klingauf
Dept. of Membrane Biophysics
Max-Planck Institute for Biophsical Chemistry
Gottingen. GERMANY

Leon Lagnado
Neurobiology Division
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Cambridge. United Kingdom