主题：AMPA Receptor Trafficking and the Regulation of Reward

报告人：Prof. Edward Ziff, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University, School of Medicine

时间：2019年9月26日，9:00-10:00

地点：北京大学吕志和楼三层大厅

摘要：

The brainacquires function by modifying its circuits in response to its own activity,thereby generating learning and memory. Extensive research establishescoincident pre- and postsynaptic activity as a generator of circuit-modifyingsignals, often through the action of the NMDA receptor, which can function ascoincidence detector. Of the many forms of regulation, regulation by reward isparticularly significant because it enables the individual to make behavioralchoices guided by past experiences. The underlying mechanisms of rewardregulation are particularly interesting because medium spiny neurons (MSNs) ofthe striatum, a major regulatory cell type of the reward circuitry, can existin a hyperpolarized state, the so-called “Down-state”, in which the NMDAreceptor does not function, making necessary use of NMDAR-independent pathways.I will discuss studies supporting the function of calcium permeable AMPAreceptors (CPARs) as surrogates for the NMDA receptor in MSN regulation byreward, and the role of the cGMP-regulated protein kinase, cGKII, asa CPAR effector. This work will be related to the molecular mechanism ofsynaptic trafficking of GluA1-containing AMPARs and how this mechanism mayprovide novel forms of coincident activity detection. Finally, I will discusshow withdrawal of reward may place MSNs in a state particularly sensitive tonew reward signals.

邀请人：李毓龙 研究员