*NOTE: This talk will not be posted to YouTube
 

Cell surface synaptic organizing complexes form a molecular link between developing axons and dendrites to control synapse assembly and synaptic properties. Genetic variants in these synaptic organizing proteins such as neurexins and neuroligins increase risk for autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia. Through an unbiased functional screen, we identified additional synaptic organizing complexes for glutamatergic and GABAergic synapses and studied their roles in mouse hippocampus. We further discovered suppressors of synapse development which act by disrupting the interaction between neurexin and neuroligin. Current efforts are focused on understanding how post-transcriptional modifications regulate synaptic organizing complexes. Neurexins and neuroligins are extensively alternatively spliced. Neurexin diversity is further increased by a rare form of glycosylation which we found to be essential for their function.

Those who wish to meet the speaker should contact Kevin Gonzalez (Polleux Lab).

The Columbia Neuroscience Seminar series is a collaborative effort of Columbia's Zuckerman Institute, the Department of Neuroscience, the Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior and the Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative, and with support from the Kavli Institute for Brain Science.