Dr. Manja Schubert

RESEARCH SKILLS ACQUIRED In-vivo:Implantation of

kindling

EEG; In-vitro:Extra- and intracellular recordings

sharp microelectrode) in brain slices

Live-cell imaging

Confocal microscopy

Epi-fluorescence microscopy

Magnetic nuclear resonance microscopy; Culture: P

mice)

hippocampal slice culture (rats)

acute brain slices (mice

rats)

HEK293T cells; Molecularbiology: Immunohistochemi

Cloning

Viral transfection; Basic knowledge: PCR

Northern and southern-blot

In-situ hybridisation

Neuroscience is one of the most exciting and rapidly expanding fields that are only limited by the boundaries of the advancements in technology. It is fascinated how Neuroscience combining biology

chemistry

psychology

mathematics

computer science

and physics to find out new mechanisms in the brain. I am excited by this extreme diversity of the mechanisms of the brain and the nervous system. Five years ago I started to study the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity to understand how learning and memory work with two very well established models

long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD). Long-lasting increase and decrease of synaptic strength are known to be the cellular basis of learning and memory. This long-lasting change of synaptic strength is dependent on the neurotransmitter receptors. My previous studies employed electrophysiological techniques

including extracellular and intracellular recording with the sharp microelectrode in brain slices to investigate the up and/or down regulation of the kainate and GABA receptors in the amygdala after epileptic seizures. This research demonstrated the dynamics and the mobility of these synaptic neurotransmitter receptors. Currently

I am investigating the molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity with the focus on the trafficking of glutamate receptors in and out of synapses and the role that synapse-associated scaffolding proteins play in synaptic plasticity. My current work is also determining the role of the secretory trafficking pathway (endoplasmtic reticulum

Golgi) in regulation synaptic plasticity since neurotransmitter receptors and their associated scaffolding proteins

are not only concentrated at synapse but also found in there intracellular compartments. This work has identified for the first time a novel trafficking pathway for synaptic receptors to synapses. We now aim to determine how this pathway influences induction and expression of synaptic plasticity

using a multidisciplinary approach

combining live cell imaging

epi-fluorescence microscopy

viral transfection and electrophysiology.