Glutamate receptor trafficking in the integration of short- and long-term synaptic plasticity
The synaptic
trafficking of structurally and functionally diversified non-NMDA-type
glutamate receptors (GluRs) at postsynaptic densities (PSDs) controls
synapse formation and plasticity underlying learning and memory. We
could quantify GluR traffic by in vivo imaging at neuromuscular
synapses of Drosophila. Subunit-specific GluR traffic matched
pre- to postsynaptic assembly at single synapses, and, on a cell-wide
level, adapted synapse numbers to activity levels over time. The
ultimate goal of the project is a spatio-temporal model of GluR
dynamics in the process of formation, stabilization and adaptation of
PSDs. Thereby Drosophila genetics will help to explore the role
of structural and functional determinants as glutamate binding,
desensitization behaviour and posttranslational modification.
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