Photoreceptor Synaptic Ribbon Proteins

传统上，突触被认为是固定的结构元素，但过去十年的研究揭示了大脑中突触末梢的动态特性。这个项目是研究一个独特的突触驻留在哺乳动物视网膜，带状突触。这种突触位于光感受器中，光感受器将光能转化为神经信号。光感受器带有一个特别大的活跃区，是神经系统中所有突触中水泡传递率最高的一个。它在50多年前首次被描述为光感受器突触前末端的固定结构成员。丝带的确切功能尚不清楚。一种识别视网膜突触带（B16）的单克隆抗体已经在PIs实验室开发出来，并用于分离视网膜特异性蛋白家族。研究这些蛋白在光感受器带突触的囊泡运输和信号转导通路中的功能，确定突触带上B16表位的身份，并尝试确定构成突触带的蛋白的氨基酸序列。还提出了研究突触带中观察到的形态动力学的昼夜节律控制。NSF的资金将继续支持丰富的教育环境，为来自新英格兰地区的高中生、波士顿学院的本科生和研究生以及来自其他东海岸大学的本科生提供实践研究经验。

Synapses have traditionally been thought to be fixed structural elements but work during the past decade has revealed the dynamic nature of synaptic endings in the brain. This project is to study a unique synapse residing in the mammalian retina, the ribbon synapse. This synapse resides in the photoreceptors, which transduce light energy into neural signals. The photoreceptor ribbon has an exceptionally large active zone and one of the highest rates of vesicular transmission of any synapse in the nervous system. It was first described over 50 years ago as a fixed structural member of the photoreceptor presynaptic terminal. The precise function of the ribbon remains unclear. A monoclonal antibody that recognizes synaptic ribbons in the retina (B16) has been developed in the PIs laboratory and used to isolate a family of retinal specific proteins. The function of these proteins in vesicular trafficking and signal transduction pathways at the photoreceptor ribbon synapse will be studied, the identity of the B16's epitope on the synaptic ribbon will be determined and determination of the amino acid sequence of the proteins composing the synaptic ribbon will be attempted. It is also proposed to study the circadian control of the morphological dynamics observed in the synaptic ribbon. NSF funding will continue to support a rich educational environment promoting hands-on research experience for high school students from the New England area, undergraduate and graduate students at Boston College, and undergraduates from other east coast universities has been established.