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SCSB Lunch Series: Role of FMRP interactions with presynaptic ion channels in Fragile X Syndrome
May 10 | 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Date: Friday, May 10, 2024
Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Location: Simons Center Conference room 46-6011 + Zoom Meeting: https://mit.zoom.us/j/91647033337
Speaker: Chhavi Sood, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Simons Postdoctoral Fellow, Littleton Lab, Picower Institute, BCS, Department of Biology, MIT
Talk title: Role of FMRP interactions with presynaptic ion channels in Fragile X Syndrome
Abstract: Synaptic vesicle (SV) fusion occurs in response to Ca2+ influx from voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (VGCCs) at AZs. Multiple conserved proteins cluster SVs and VGCCs at the AZs. Additionally, BK channels (Ca2+-activated K+ channels) also cluster at AZs to rapidly repolarize the presynaptic membrane, close VGCCs, and terminate Ca2+ influx and SV release. Using the Drosophila model of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) and neuromuscular junction, I aim to determine how FMRP controls VGCC and BK channel synaptic delivery and AZ abundance and how dysregulation of these interactions contributes to synaptic defects in FXS.