Talk: Organization of Synapse Structure and Function by Trans-synaptic Adhesion

Talk: Organization of Synapse Structure and Function by Trans-synaptic Adhesion

Speaker: Thomas Biederer Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University

When: 29 March, 2012 at 5pm

Where: Berstein Center for Computational Neuroscience BCCN, Lecture Hall, Philippstr.13, 10115 Berlin

Organized by the Collaborative Research Center 665 

Our research goal is to understand at a molecular and functional level how neurons form synapses with each other. We have identified and characterized SynCAM proteins as a class of synaptic adhesion molecules of the immunoglobulin superfamily, and we use them as entry point to delineating how trans-synaptic interactions organize synapses. SynCAMs are sufficient to drive the formation of excitatory synapses, and we have determined that Syn-CAMs exert their synaptogenic activity through specific homo- and heterophilic interactions across the synaptic cleft. Moreover, elevating or knocking-out SynCAM 1 in mouse models promotes or lowers the number of functional excitatory synapses. In the mature brain, synaptic plasticity and even learning are modulated by SynCAM 1 interactions. A key focus of our current work is to elucidate the signaling pathways downstream of synapse-organizing adhesion molecules and to determine how trans-synaptic interactions control synapse structure and function in the brain.