Speaker:

A/Professor Sajikumar Sreedharan

Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597

Title: The p75 neurotrophin receptor is a necessary mediator of synaptic and behavioral changes induced by sleep deprivation

Abstract: Sleep deprivation (SD) interferes with cognitive functions, specifically hippocampal synaptic plasticity, including the long-lasting form of synaptic plasticity such as late long-term potentiation (late-LTP) and memory consolidation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are not completely understood. I will present data on how SD impairs the cellular associative mechanism such as synaptic tagging and capture (STC), a major mechanism of associative learning and memory. The mutant mice lacking the p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) are resistant to the effects of SD on late-LTP and STC, both at cellular and behavioral levels. Mechanistically, deletion of p75NTR prevents the upregulation of phosphodiesterase PDE4A5 and decrease in BDNF, ERK1/2 and CREB activation that normally accompany SD. Our results identify p75NTR as an important mediator of the synaptic changes associated with SD, and suggest that targeting p75NTR could be a promising strategy to limit the cognitive deficits that accompany sleep loss.

About Neuroscience Seminars

Neuroscience seminars at the QBI play a major role in the advancement of neuroscience in the Asia-Pacific region. The primary goal of these seminars is to promote excellence in neuroscience through the exchange of ideas, establishing new collaborations and augmenting partnerships already in place.

Seminars in the QBI Auditorium on Level 7 are held on Wednesdays at 12-1pm, which are sometimes simulcast on Zoom (with approval from the speaker). We also occassionally hold seminars from international speakers via Zoom. The days and times of these seminars will vary depending on the time zone of the speaker. Please see each seminar listed below for details. 

 

Neuroscience Seminars archive 2005-2018