B.S.,
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Sang Lee Email: jmetallo@mcw.edu Phone: (414) 955-4416
Research Interest
Our lab is interested in the molecular mechanisms behind synaptic plasticity, which is the ability of neurons to alter the strength of synaptic connections either making them stronger or weaker. This process is currently thought to play an important role in many neurological functions including how the brain stores and retrieves memories. Regulation of glutamate receptor levels on the post-synaptic membrane have been shown to be an important component of synaptic plasticity, and dysfunction of glutamate receptor trafficking is thought to play a role in several neurological disorders. Current lab data shows that overexpressing scaffolding protein S-SCAM in the neuron also increases the amount of the AMPA-type glutamate receptors present at the synapse, which may be an important mechanism of synaptic plasticity. Trafficking of AMPA receptors has been extensively studied and altering levels at the synapse has been shown to alter synaptic strength.
My research involves studying the role of the synaptic scaffolding protein S-SCAM in regulating the protein composition of post-synaptic density including AMPA receptors. Our lab uses multiple techniques to study this, including florescent microscopy, electrophysiology and protein chemistry. Work is currently done by transfecting rat S-SCAM into dissociate cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Development of a transgenic mouse model is in progress.