Biography
Synaptic and molecular mechanisms in learning and memory formation My lab is currently investigating the synaptic and molecular mechanisms involved in learning and memory formation in the mammalian central nervous system. Electrophysiological techniques are used to study synaptic transmission in a variety of in vitro preparations but most work concerns the mechanisms responsible for long-lasting changes in synaptic transmission that occur in the hippocampus, a region of the brain known to have an important role in learning and memory. In our experiments we use electrophysiological, pharmacological, and molecular genetic (transgenic mice) approaches to decipher the molecular components of the biochemical pathways responsible for memory formation in the mammalian brain and eventually hope to understand how alterations in these pathways may contribute to the memory impairment that occurs in pathological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or even as a result of normal aging.
Publications
A selected list of publications:
Ryan Tomás J, Kopanitsa Maksym V, Indersmitten Tim, Nithianantharajah Jess, Afinowi Nurudeen O, Pettit Charles, Stanford Lianne E, Sprengel Rolf, Saksida Lisa M, Bussey Timothy J, O’Dell Thomas J, Grant Seth G N, Komiyama Noboru H
Evolution of GluN2A/B cytoplasmic domains diversified vertebrate synaptic plasticity and behavior Nature neuroscience, 2013; 16(1): 25-32.
Coba Marcelo P, Komiyama Noboru H, Nithianantharajah Jess, Kopanitsa Maksym V, Indersmitten Tim, Skene Nathan G, Tuck Ellie J, Fricker David G, Elsegood Kathryn A, Stanford Lianne E, Afinowi Nurudeen O, Saksida Lisa M, Bussey Timothy J, O’Dell Thomas J, Grant Seth G N
TNiK is required for postsynaptic and nuclear signaling pathways and cognitive function The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2012; 32(40): 13987-99.
Carlisle Holly J, Luong Tinh N, Medina-Marino Andrew, Schenker Leslie, Khorosheva Eugenia, Indersmitten Tim, Gunapala Keith M, Steele Andrew D, O’Dell Thomas J, Patterson Paul H, Kennedy Mary B
Deletion of densin-180 results in abnormal behaviors associated with mental illness and reduces mGluR5 and DISC1 in the postsynaptic density fraction The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2011; 31(45): 16194-207.
Wiltgen Brian J, Royle Gordon A, Gray Erin E, Abdipranoto Andrea, Thangthaeng Nopporn, Jacobs Nate, Saab Faysal, Tonegawa Susumu, Heinemann Stephen F, O’Dell Thomas J, Fanselow Michael S, Vissel Bryce
A role for calcium-permeable AMPA receptors in synaptic plasticity and learning PloS one, 2010; 5(9): .
Arbuckle Margaret I, Komiyama Noboru H, Delaney Ada, Coba Marcelo, Garry Emer M, Rosie Roberta, Allchorne Andrew J, Forsyth Lynsey H, Bence Matthew, Carlisle Holly J, O’Dell Thomas J, Mitchell Rory, Fleetwood-Walker Susan M, Grant Seth G N
The SH3 domain of postsynaptic density 95 mediates inflammatory pain through phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase recruitment EMBO reports, 2010; 11(6): 473-8.
Cuthbert Peter C, Stanford Lianne E, Coba Marcelo P, Ainge James A, Fink Ann E, Opazo Patricio, Delgado Jary Y, Komiyama Noboru H, O’Dell Thomas J, Grant Seth G N
Synapse-associated protein 102/dlgh3 couples the NMDA receptor to specific plasticity pathways and learning strategies The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2007; 27(10): 2673-82.
Komiyama Noboru H, Watabe Ayako M, Carlisle Holly J, Porter Karen, Charlesworth Paul, Monti Jennifer, Strathdee Douglas J C, O’Carroll Colin M, Martin Stephen J, Morris Richard G M, O’Dell Thomas J, Grant Seth G N
SynGAP regulates ERK/MAPK signaling, synaptic plasticity, and learning in the complex with postsynaptic density 95 and NMDA receptor The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2002; 22(22): 9721-32.
Migaud M, Charlesworth P, Dempster M, Webster LC, Watabe AM, Makhinson M, He Y, Ramsay MF, Morris RGM, O’Dell TJ, and Grant, SGN Enhanced long term potentiation and impaired learning in mice with mutant postsynatpic density-95 protein, Nature, 1998; 396: 433-439.
Thomas MJ, Watabe AM, Moody TD, Makhinson M, and O’Dell TJ Postsynaptic complex spike bursting enables the inductio of LTP by theta frequency synaptic stimulation, J. Neuroscience, 1998; 18: 7118-7126.