Photoreceptor Synaptic Ribbon Proteins

突触传统上被认为是固定的结构元素，但过去十年的工作揭示了大脑中突触末端的动态本质。本计画旨在研究哺乳动物视网膜上一种独特的突触--带状突触。 这种突触位于感光器中，感光器将光能转化为神经信号。 感光带有一个非常大的活性区，是神经系统中囊泡传递速率最高的突触之一。50多年前，它被首次描述为光感受器突触前末梢的固定结构成员。 丝带的确切功能尚不清楚。一种识别视网膜中突触带（B16）的单克隆抗体已在PI实验室开发，并用于分离视网膜特异性蛋白质家族。将研究这些蛋白质在光感受器带突触的囊泡运输和信号转导途径中的功能，将确定突触带上B16的表位的身份，并尝试确定构成突触带的蛋白质的氨基酸序列。 还建议研究突触带中观察到的形态学动态的昼夜节律控制。NSF的资金将继续支持丰富的教育环境，促进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的实践研究经验。

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.