NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2001

这项行动为2001财政年度NSF少数民族博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该研究金的目标是培养少数民族科学家担任学术界和工业界的科学领导职务。为了实现这一目标，奖学金提供最高质量的博士后培训机会，以最近的博士获奖者。该计划是美国国家科学基金会的一项努力，旨在增加来自代表性不足的少数群体的研究科学家的数量，从而为国家科学事业的未来活力做出贡献。预计通过这些奖学金培训的研究员将在培训未来的劳动力方面发挥重要作用。该奖学金的研究和培训计划名为“研究离子型红藻氨酸受体的离子型和代谢型信号的合并”。“化学突触的神经传递是由两种不同的受体进行的-离子型和代谢型。亲离子受体是配体门控离子通道，其通过允许离子通量穿过细胞膜来响应神经递质。然而，代谢型受体通过激活第二信使分子介导的神经传递不那么直接，第二信使分子随后调节细胞通讯。当代的神经传递模型认为，离子型和代谢型受体诱发的信号是自主的和排他性的。然而，最近的数据表明，红藻氨酸受体，离子型谷氨酸受体家族的成员，可能能够启动离子型和代谢型信号。本研究通过以下方式阐明这些不同信号传导途径的合并：（1）在异源表达系统中重建推定的途径;以及（2）鉴定直接与离子型红藻氨酸受体相互作用的蛋白质作为代谢偶联的潜在介体。这些目标正在实现利用非洲爪蟾卵母细胞表达和酵母双杂交筛选，分别。

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2001. The goal of the fellowship is to prepare minority scientists for positions of scientific leadership in academia and industry. To attain this goal, the fellowship provides opportunities for postdoctoral training of the highest quality to recent doctoral recipients. This program is an effort by the NSF to increase the number of research scientists from underrepresented minority groups, thereby contributing to the future vitality of the Nation's scientific enterprise. It is expected that Fellows trained through these fellowships will play important roles in training of the future workforce.The research and training plan for this fellowship is entitled "Investigating the Merging of Ionotropic and Metabotropic Signals at the Ionotropic Kainate Receptors." Neurotransmission at chemical synapses is carried out by two distinct classes of receptors- ionotropic and metabotropic. Ionotropic receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that respond to neurotransmitters by allowing ion flux across cell membranes. Metabotropic receptors, however, mediate neurotransmission less directly by activating second messenger molecules which subsequently modulate cellular communication. Contemporary models of neurotransmission maintain that the signals evoked by ionotropic and metabotropic receptors are autonomous and exclusive. Recent data, however, suggests that kainate receptors, members of the ionotropic glutamate receptor family, may be capable of initiating both ionotropic and metabotropic signals. This research is elucidating the merging of these distinct signaling pathways by (1) reconstituting the putative pathway in a heterologous expression system; and (2) identifying proteins that directly interact with the ionotropic kainate receptors as potential mediators of metabotropic coupling. These aims are being achieved by utilizing Xenopus oocyte expression and yeast two-hybrid screening, respectively.