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Physiological, structural and molecular analyses of
vertebrate neurotransmission.
Changes in the strength of synaptic connections
between neurons lie at the heart of information processing and storage
in the central nervous system. While great insight into the mechanisms
of synaptic transmission has emerged over the past decades, a unifying
theory of the cellular mechanisms of vesicular release is still lacking.
We use electrophysiological and microscopic imaging techniques to observe
and subtly alter the pre-synaptic vesicle release machinery in individual
synapses to gain understanding into the workings of the synapse. Alterations
in the minute details of synaptic structure are also examined using
an electron microscope. We are also developing animals which contain
genetically encoded reporters of neuronal activity that will allow us
to simultaneously monitor the activity of ensembles of neurons in a
functioning nervous system. These types of studies will allow a better
understanding of the neuronal networks that encode information in the
central nervous system.
Recent publications:
Bibb
JA, Yan Z, Svenningsson P, Snyder GL, Pieribone VA, Horiuchi A, Nairn
AC, Messer A, Greengard P. OMIM Severe
deficiencies in dopamine signaling in presymptomatic Huntington's disease
mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 Jun 6;97(12):6809-14.
Low P, Norlin T, Risinger C, Larhammar D, Pieribone VA, Shupliakov O,
Brodin L. Inhibition
of neurotransmitter release in the lamprey reticulospinal synapse by
antibody-mediated disruption of SNAP-25 function. Eur J Cell Biol.
1999 Nov;78(11):787-93.
Kao HT, Porton B, Hilfiker S, Stefani G, Pieribone VA, DeSalle R, Greengard
P. Molecular
evolution of the synapsin gene family. J Exp Zool. 1999 Dec 15;285(4):360-77.
Hilfiker, S., Pieribone, V.A., Nordstedt, C., Greengard, P. and Czernik,
A.J. (1999) Regulation
of Synaptotagmin I phosphorylation by multiple protein kinases.
The Journal of Neurochemistry 73, 921-932.
Pieribone
Laboratory Website
vincent.pieribone@cmp.yale.edu
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