Genetic Dissection of Olfactory Memory in Drosophila

描述（由申请人提供）：Michael Grotewiel博士被任命为 1998年8月任动物学系助理教授。在他的两 多年来，他以这种身份表现出对卓越的坚定承诺， 研究和教学。这一承诺体现在建立了 一个由校外资助的研究项目， 和研究生在他的课程和讲座。此外，Grotewiel博士 一直是动物学系和研究生院的热心公民 神经科学计划，服务于一些委员会处理一个 包括研究生招生和招聘在内的各种问题， 寻找教职员工，与院长的联系，以及实验室空间 利用率这个研究职业发展奖（RCDA）将允许博士。 格罗特维尔大幅减少他的教学和委员会的任务， 从而使他的努力倾向于他的研究计划。 他的主要近期和长期职业目标是专注于并扩大他的 果蝇记忆分子基础的研究计划， 将其提升到国家和国际知名度的高度。他还 计划继续教学和一些有限的委员会服务，尽管在一个 减少水平，使其占用不到百分之二十的他的总努力。 他的实验室的长期目标是了解 果蝇的记忆力。果蝇是一个很好的模型系统， 研究，因为它强大的遗传和能力，表现良好， 许多记忆模式。此外，由于参与的分子事件 学习和记忆似乎是保守的，从苍蝇到老鼠，研究利用 果蝇将继续提供有关 行为可塑性背后的基本分子事件。在此 在资助期间，Grotewiel博士将继续他的工作， 参与果蝇中整合素介导的嗅觉记忆。的一个主要 目标是鉴定出整合素β亚单位， 与alphaPS3相互作用，alphaPS3是一种先前显示参与 嗅觉记忆另一个主要的目标是描绘大脑区域， 使用靶向基因表达策略， 结合行为分析。此外，蛋白质的作用， 直接结合到整合素的胞质结构域将通过 分子和生物化学研究。总的来说，这些研究将大大增加 对我们理解细胞和分子过程的重要性 整合素在学习和记忆中的作用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Michael Grotewiel was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Zoology in August, 1998. In his two years in this capacity he has demonstrated a strong commitment to excellence in research and teaching. This commitment is exemplified by the establishment of an extramurally funded research program and excellent ratings by undergraduate and graduate students in his courses and lectures. Additionally, Dr. Grotewiel has been an enthusiastic citizen in the Zoology Department and the Graduate Neuroscience Program by serving on a number of committees dealing with a variety of issues including graduate student admissions and recruiting, searches for faculty hires, liaison to the Dean, and laboratory space utilization. This Research Career Development Award (RCDA) would allow Dr. Grotewiel to substantially reduce his teaching and committee assignments, thereby tipping the balance of his efforts in favor of his research program. His primary immediate and long-term career goals are to focus on and expand his research program on the molecular bases of memory in Drosophila, ultimately raising it to a level of high national and international visibility. He also plans to continue teaching and some limited committee service, albeit at a reduced level such that it occupies less than 20 percent of his total effort. The long-term objective of his laboratory is to understand the molecular bases for memory in Drosophila. Drosophila is an excellent model system for such investigations because of its powerful genetics and ability to perform well in many memory paradigms. Additionally, since the molecular events involved in learning and memory seem to be conserved from flies to mice, studies utilizing Drosophila will continue to provide highly relevant information regarding the fundamental molecular events underlying behavioral plasticity. During this funding period, Dr. Grotewiel will continue his work on identifying molecules involved in integrin-mediated olfactory memory in Drosophila. One of the major goals will be to identify the requisite integrin beta subunit that physically interacts with alphaPS3, an alpha integrin previously shown to participate in olfactory memory. Another major goal will be to delineate the brain regions in which integrins are active using targeted gene expression strategies in combination with behavioral analyses. Additionally, the role of proteins that directly bind to the cytoplasmic domains of integrins will be explored via molecular and biochemical studies. Collectively, these studies will add greatly to our understanding of the molecular and cellular processes mediated by integrins within the context of learning and memory.