ANTIBODY PROBES OF A PRESYNAPTIC CALCIUM CHANNEL

这个项目的长期目标是增加我们对 神经系统中的突触通讯。 的分子机制 神经递质在化学突触处释放， 解决了 然而，已知神经末梢的钙通道 对调节这一过程至关重要。 这项工作直接解决 关于突触前钙的结构和性质的问题 渠道，它将导致生产的试剂，应该是 对研究这些蛋白质具有长期的实用性。 具体来说， 该项目需要生产单克隆和多克隆抗体 针对突触前钙通道的候选亚基， 最近被这个实验室克隆出来的 这些抗体将用于 纯化该蛋白和其他候选钙通道亚基。 这些 抗体也将用于该抗原的免疫定位 在组织和亚细胞组分中。 这些调查应 极大地提高了我们对突触前钙通道的认识， 它们如何促进正常的突触功能。 这是一个关键 这些通道是如何被调制的应用研究的先决条件 健康和疾病的环境和遗传因素。

The long-term goal of this project is to increase our understanding of synaptic communication in the nervous system. The molecular mechanism by which neurotransmitters are released at chemical synapses is still not resolved. However, it is known that calcium channels of nerve endings are vital for regulating this process. This work directly addresses questions concerning the structure and properties of presynaptic calcium channels, and it will lead to the production of reagents that should be of long-term utility for studying these proteins. Specifically, this project entails the production of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against a candidate subunit of a presynaptic calcium channel that was recently cloned by this laboratory. These antibodies will be used to purify this protein and other candidate calcium channel subunits. These antibodies will also be used for the immunolocalization of this antigen in tissues and subcellular fractions. These investigations should dramatically improve our knowledge of presynaptic calcium channels and how they contribute to normal synaptic function. This is a crucial prerequisite for applied studies of how these channels are modulated by environmental and genetic factors in health and disease.