Genetic Dissection of Olfactory Memory in Drosophila

职位描述(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。在他的两个 多年来，他在这一职位上表现出了对卓越的坚定承诺 研究和教学。这一承诺的例子是建立 校外资助的研究项目和本科生的优秀评价 和研究生在他的课程和讲座中。此外，格罗特维尔博士 一直是动物学系和研究生的热心市民 神经科学计划通过在多个委员会任职来处理 包括研究生招生和招生在内的各种问题， 搜索教员招聘、与院长的联系以及实验室空间 利用率。这项研究职业发展奖(RCDA)将允许博士。 Grotewiel大幅减少了他的教学和委员会任务， 因此，他的努力的天平倾向于他的研究计划。 他近期和长期的主要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最终 将其提升到国内和国际上的高能见度。他也 计划继续教学和一些有限的委员会服务，尽管是在 降低水平，使其在他的全部努力中所占的比例不到20%。 他的实验室的长期目标是了解分子基础 果蝇的记忆。果蝇就是这样一个很好的模型系统 调查，因为它强大的遗传学和在 许多记忆范例。此外，由于涉及到的分子事件 从苍蝇到老鼠，学习和记忆似乎都是保守的，研究利用 果蝇将继续提供关于 行为可塑性背后的基本分子事件。在此期间 在资助期间，Grotewiel博士将继续他在识别分子方面的工作 参与果蝇整合素介导的嗅觉记忆。其中一个主要的 目标将是确定必要的整合素β亚基 与AlphaPS3相互作用，AlphaPS3是一种先前显示参与的α整合素 嗅觉记忆。另一个主要目标将是描绘大脑中的区域 在靶向基因表达策略中，哪些整合素是活性的 结合行为分析。此外，蛋白质的作用是 直接结合到整合素的细胞质结构域将通过 分子和生化研究。总的来说，这些研究将极大地增加 对于我们对分子和细胞过程的理解 学习和记忆环境中的整合素。

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.