Novel Differential Dopamine Receptor Signaling

莫里斯9515226所有可电兴奋的细胞，如大脑和其他器官中的细胞，都不断地以神经递质和激素的形式接收化学信号。这些化学信使与靶细胞外表面的特定蛋白质(称为受体)相互作用，并通过激活这些受体带来的变化，将它们的信息传递到细胞的工作中。莫里斯博士提出的研究针对的就是这样一个信息系统--多巴胺D2受体系统。多巴胺是一种小分子，对大脑交流和机体功能至关重要，尤其是运动。莫里斯博士和他的同事们正在使用复杂的分子生物学技术开发一种易于使用的模型系统，在该系统中可以研究多巴胺与其认知受体结合后在细胞中发生的事件。这项工作将详细了解神经递质与其受体结合激活的基本分子机制，并将对揭示大脑如何编码化学信息及其翻译具有重要意义。

Morris 9515226 All electrically excitable cells, such as those in the brain and other organs, are constantly receiving chemical signals in the form of neurotransmitters and hormones. These chemical messengers interact with specific proteins, called receptors, on the outer surface of their target cells and through changes brought about by the activation of these receptors, transmit their message into the workings of the cell. The studies proposed by Dr. Morris study one such message system, the dopamine D2 receptor system. Dopamine is a small molecule which is crucial for brain communication and organismal function, particularly movement. Dr. Morris and his colleagues are using sophisticated molecular biological techniques to develop an easily accessible model system in which to study the events that occur in a cell subsequent to dopamine binding to its cognizant receptor. This work will provide a detailed understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms activated by a neurotransmitter binding to its receptor and will have major implications on revealing how the brain encodes chemical information and its translation.