Adekunle Bademosi, UQ : "Lateral trapping of syntaxin1A in nanodomains: key to neuroexocytosis?"

Speaker:

Adekunle Bademosi (PhD Exit Seminar)

Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland

Title: "Lateral trapping of syntaxin1A in nanodomains: key to neuroexocytosis?"

Abstract: Neurons communicate with each other at specialized sites called synapses where chemical signals – neurotransmitters – packed within vesicles are released across the synaptic cleft in a process called exocytosis. The vesicles are docked and primed at the presynaptic plasma membrane in readiness for fusion. These processes rely mainly on the SNARE proteins –syntaxin1A, SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin-2. Recent advances in super-resolution microscopy techniques have helped uncover the presynaptic membrane nanoscale world that these proteins act in, which is subject to Brownian and anomalous diffusion. Furthermore, these novel imaging techniques have also revealed how these proteins dynamically organize to form nanodomains. Our knowledge of how neurotransmitter release might alter the mobility and nanodomain organization of these proteins is still in its infancy stage.

In this talk, I will present our recent discoveries on how changes in syntaxin1A nanodomain organization and dynamics controls neurotransmitter release in vitro and in vivo. I will also show how clinically relevant pharmacological drugs alter neurotransmitter release via the lateral trapping of syntaxin1A within these nanodomains. Our findings provide a novel platform to investigate how neurological disease conditions or medical interventions might alter communication between neurons at nanoscale.