The objective of this proposal is to expand an undergraduate teaching laboratory in neurobiology to include the exploration of fundamental molecular mechanisms of neural signalling. The course most directly affected concerns cellular and molecular neuroscience, which is one of two advanced core courses in a neuroscience major now under development. The requested equipment includes apparatus for assaying protein concentration, cell fractionation, studying receptor binding, studying intracellular second messenger systems, exploring the pharmacological basis of synaptic transmission, and visualizing the expression of particular neuronal genes with in situ hybridization techniques. The addition of these molecular techniques to the array of cellular and other methods now supported in the teaching laboratory permit the students to experience a rich variety of the techniques fundamental to modern neuroscience.
