: The following is a research and training plan that I will conduct first in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Diamond in the Synaptic Physiology Unit of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the Bethesda campus of the National Institutes of Health and later in my own laboratory. My primary research interest is the physiology of synaptic transmission: specifically, the pre- and postsynaptic factors that determine the time course of information transfer between two neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). My long-term career goal is to be a principal investigator at a research university, overseeing a laboratory that uses electrophysiological and fluorescence imaging techniques to answer questions about the fundamental properties of synapses. The short term objective of my training with Dr. Diamond is to learn to develop quantitative descriptions and models of excitatory synaptic transmission in the mammalian retina, focusing on dyad synapses made by rod bipolar cells onto two types of amacrine cell: the AII and the A17. This component of the mammalian rod pathway will serve as the experimental model around which inquiry, in my own laboratory is structured initially. The proposed research project will encompass three specific aims: 1) To determine the factors that govern the timing of glutamate release from the rod bipolar cell, 2) to understand how the postsynaptic properties of the amacrine cells shape the time course and strength of post-synaptic responses, 3) to investigate how signals that originate in the AII amacrine cell are altered when propagated through gap junctions to other AII amacrine and cone bipolar cells.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Career Transition Award (K22)
Project #
5K22NS043365-02
Application #
7009601
Study Section
NST-2 Subcommittee (NST)
Program Officer
Talley, Edmund M
Project Start
2005-01-06
Project End
2007-03-31
Budget Start
2006-01-06
Budget End
2007-01-05
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$162,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Northwestern University at Chicago
Department
Ophthalmology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
005436803
City
Chicago
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60611
Tian, Miao; Jarsky, Tim; Murphy, Gabe J et al. (2010) Voltage-gated Na channels in AII amacrine cells accelerate scotopic light responses mediated by the rod bipolar cell pathway. J Neurosci 30:4650-9
Singer, Joshua H; Glowatzki, Elisabeth; Moser, Tobias et al. (2009) Functional properties of synaptic transmission in primary sense organs. J Neurosci 29:12802-6
Singer, Joshua H; Diamond, Jeffrey S (2006) Vesicle depletion and synaptic depression at a mammalian ribbon synapse. J Neurophysiol 95:3191-8