NIH VideoCast - Long-Term Potentiation: The Nuts and Bolts

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Long-Term Potentiation: The Nuts and Bolts

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Air date:	Monday, February 3, 2014, 12:00:00 PM Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Views:	Total views: 928 (65 Live, 863 On-demand)
Category:	Neuroscience
Runtime:	01:06:03
Closed captioning:	Check box to display CC outside of the video Note: You can drag the captioning window around and resize it
Description:	Neuroscience Seminar Series Dr. Nicoll's lab is interested in elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the mammalian brain. Long-term potentiation (LTP), a phenomenon in which brief repetitive activity causes a long lasting (many weeks) enhancement in the strength of synaptic transmission, is generally accepted to be a key cellular substrate for learning and memory. Dr. Nicoll's lab uses a combination of electrophysiological and molecular techniques to elucidate the molecular basis of LTP. They have found that LTP involves the rapid activity-dependent trafficking of glutamate receptors to the synapse. This trafficking requires the interaction of two families of synaptic proteins. One family is a novel group of proteins that, they discovered which bind to glutamate receptors and act as auxiliary subunits. These proteins are not only essential for the trafficking of the glutamate receptors, but also control the gating of the receptor channel. The other family is comprised of a family of scaffolding proteins that bind to the auxiliary subunits and thereby anchor the receptors at the synapse. Much of the current work in the lab is focused on how activity controls this receptor trafficking and how the increase in synaptic strength during LTP is stabilized and maintained.

NLM Title:	Long-term potentiation : the nuts and bolts / Roger Nicoll.
Author:	Nicoll, Roger A. National Institutes of Health (U.S.),
Publisher:
Abstract:	(CIT): Long-term potentiation (LTP), a phenomenon in which brief repetitive activity causes a long lasting (many weeks) enhancement in the strength of synaptic transmission, is generally accepted to be a key cellular substrate for learning and memory. Dr. Nicoll's lab uses a combination of electrophysiological and molecular techniques to elucidate the molecular basis of LTP. They have found that LTP involves the rapid activity-dependent trafficking of glutamate receptors to the synapse. This trafficking requires the interaction of two families of synaptic proteins. One family is a novel group of proteins that, they discovered which bind to glutamate receptors and act as auxiliary subunits. These proteins are not only essential for the trafficking of the glutamate receptors, but also control the gating of the receptor channel. The other family is comprised of a family of scaffolding proteins that bind to the auxiliary subunits and thereby anchor the receptors at the synapse. Much of the current work in the lab is focused on how activity controls this receptor trafficking and how the increase in synaptic strength during LTP is stabilized and maintained.
Subjects:	Long-Term Potentiation--physiology Memory--physiology Nerve Tissue Proteins--metabolism Protein Transport--physiology Receptors, Glutamate
Publication Types:	Lecture Webcast

NLM Classification:	WL 102
NLM ID:	101628096
CIT Live ID:	13678
Permanent link:	https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=13678

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