Protein trafficking in cultured hippocampal neurons

神经元是神经系统的组成部分，神经元的主要作用是充当信息处理器。神经元的功能与其形态密切相关。神经元是形态学和生物化学上不对称的或极化的细胞，包含两个主要结构域：轴突和体树突结构域。轴突负责信息的传输，树突负责接收和解码来自相邻细胞的信息。建立这两个域对于构建神经元和神经系统至关重要。此外，细胞的结构是这样的，轴突的尖端可以远离细胞体，其中许多细胞的组件是由细胞体制成的。因此，神经元依赖于一个复杂的细胞内运输系统，以允许运送细胞成分，如蛋白质，到细胞内的远端部位。蛋白质在细胞中加工的两个主要途径是通过生物合成途径，或者通过组成性途径，其主要涉及跨膜蛋白，以及分泌途径，其涉及可溶性蛋白质的加工和调节释放。一般来说，两种类型的蛋白质都被分选到高尔基体中的载体囊泡中，沿沿着微管运输，并最终递送到质膜，用于添加到质膜或从细胞释放。这项赠款有两个主要重点。 一个主要的目的是了解细胞如何将膜蛋白靶向树突。另一个主要目的是了解什么微管为基础的马达蛋白负责运输致密的核心囊泡。最后，有几个人类和动物疾病的例子，其中潜在的细胞缺陷与蛋白质运输问题有关。因此，了解蛋白质运输和神经细胞生物学的基本方面将显着推进我们对神经退行性疾病如卢伽雷氏病和阿尔茨海默病的原因的理解。

Neurons are the building block of the nervous system and the primary role of the neuron is to act as an information processor. The neuron's function is intimately linked to its form, or morphology. Neurons are morphologically and biochemically asymmetric, or polarized cells, containing two primary domains: the axon and the somatodendritic domain. Axons are responsible for the transmission of information and dendrites receive and decode information from neighboring cells. Establishing these two domains is critical in building a neuron, and the nervous system. Additionally, the architecture of the cell is such that the tip of the axon can be quite distant form the cell body where many of the cell's components are made. Thus, neurons rely on an elaborate intracellular transport system to allow for the shipping of cellular components, such as proteins, to distal sites within the cell. Two primary pathways in which proteins are processed in the cell are through the biosynthetic pathway either via the constitutive route, which primarily involves transmembrane proteins, and the secretory route, which involves the processing and regulated release of soluble proteins. In general, both types of proteins are sorted into carrier vesicles in the Golgi apparatus, transported along microtubules, and finally delivered to the plasma membrane for either addition to the plasma membrane or release from the cell. This grant has two main foci.  One major aim is to understand how the cell targets membrane proteins to the dendrites. The other major aim is to understand what microtubule-based motor proteins are responsible for the transport of dense core vesicles. Finally, there are several examples of human and animal diseases where the underlying cellular defect relates to problems in protein trafficking. Thus, understanding the basic aspects of protein trafficking and nerve cell biology will significantly advance our understanding of the causes of neurodegenerative disorders like Lou Gehrig's and Alzheimer's disease.