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MSc Exit Seminar – Jonah Chevrier (Woodin lab)
August 16, 2016 @ 2:10 pm - 2:40 pm
MSc Exit Seminar
Tuesday August 16th, 2:10 pm – Ramsay Wright Building, Rm. 432
Jonah Chevrier (Woodin lab)
“Cation chloride cotransporters exist with NMDA receptors in molecular complexes”
Abstract
In the central nervous system, the polarity of GABAergic synaptic transmission is predominantly determined by cation-chloride cotransporters NKCC1 and KCC2. During development, functional expression of chloride-loading NKCC1 decreases while chloride-extruding KCC2 is steeply upregulated and underlies the GABA switch from excitatory to inhibitory. Despite the critical role of KCC2 in inhibitory neurotransmission, excitatory kainate-type glutamate receptor subunit GluK2 interacts with and regulates KCC2 function. The aim of this study was to determine if N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) interact with NKCC1 and KCC2. The salient findings of my work are: (i) NKCC1 and KCC2 interact with NMDARs in neurons throughout development and into maturity (ii) loss of NMDARs alters expression of KCC2 and (iii) traumatic brain injury alters cation-chloride cotransporter expression and interactions with NMDARs. This work contributes to our knowledge of the molecular interplay between the opposing forces of neuronal excitation and inhibition.
Ramsay Wright is a wheelchair accessible building.