Andreas Vlachos, Universität Freiburg: The spine apparatus and synaptic plasticity – one organelle to rule them all

Bernstein Seminar

When	Mar 05, 2019 from 05:15 PM to 06:15 PM
Where	Lecture Hall, Bernstein Center Freiburg
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Abstract

Work from the past 40 years has unraveled a wealth of information on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity. It has been recognized that a broad range of neurological diseases is accompanied by severe alterations in synaptic plasticity. Nonetheless, our current knowledge on the specific contribution and interaction of distinct forms of synaptic plasticity in the context of pathological brain states remains limited.

Recent progress in our molecular understanding of Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity supports the notion that these fundamentally distinct forms of plasticity share common cellular events, and are often altered together in neurological diseases. My presentation focuses on the spine apparatus and recent experimental evidence, which indicates that an enigmatic cellular organelle (composed of stacked smooth endoplasmic reticulum) could be involved in modulating the interplay between distinct forms of synaptic plasticity in health and disease.

Literature

Vlachos A.: Synaptopodin and the spine apparatus organelle-regulators of different forms of synaptic plasticity? Ann Anat. 2012; 194(4):317-20 (Link)
Jedlicka P., Deller T: Understanding the role of synaptopodin and the spine apparatus in Hebbian synaptic plasticity - New perspectives and the need for computational modeling. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2017;138:21-30 (Link)

The talk is open to the public. Guests are cordially invited!