Goda, Yukiko IBN - 9707516 Information in the brain is encoded as electrical impulses. The transfer of information between brain cells - a process critical for myriad of brain function - is accomplished by converting electrical signal into chemical signal at synapses which are specialized points of cell-cell contact. It is likely that cell surface adhesive molecules play an important role at synapses much like adhesion molecules present at cell-cell contact sites of non-brain cells. Nevertheless, little is known of the role of cell surface adhesive molecules at brain synapses. There are many different classes of cell surface adhesion molecules that are classified according to their functional and structural relatedness. This project addresses the role of protein family known as Integrins are important for linking extracellular matrix molecules with intracellular proteins crucial for maintaining the structural organization within cells. The aim of this proposal is to establish the expression pattern of integrins at brain synapses, and to determine the role of integrins in regulating signal transfer across synapses. The experimental system consists of dissociated brain cells which after culturing in an incubator, form synapses with physiological properties indistinguishable from those found in living brain. Preliminary results demonstrate that integrins are present at synapses in cultured brain cells, and regulate functional aspects of signal transfer at synapses. The experiments outlined in this proposal are designed to further delineate the mechanism by which integrins modulate information transfer at synapses.
