Ultrastructure of GABA, glycine and glutamate co-transmitting synapses in the immature brainstem

The synapse forms the core unit of information transfer in the brain, and most brain disorders, both developmental and degenerative, are caused by synaptic dysfunction. Understanding synaptic organization is therefore central to both basic research and health research in neuroscience. Our still-evolving understanding of the synapse includes relatively recent recognition that many synapses use multiple chemical signals, known as “co-transmission.” Synapses are so small that we need electron microscopy (EM) to study how co-transmitting synapses are organized, but most methods used to prepare samples for EM distort biological tissue. While innovative methods such as high-pressure freezing (HPF) can help minimize tissue distortion, this approach has not yet been used with the challenging brainstem tissue in which my lab in Canada studies co-transmitting synapses. I will work with American experts in EM and HPF to optimize HPF methods for brainstem tissue in order to examine the organization of co-transmitting synapses in the immature brainstem. This project will advance goals of both labs by expanding a new technique into another brain area and by answering specific questions about co-transmission.

Faculty Supervisor:

Deda Gillespie

Student:

Partner:

Johns Hopkins University

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Life Sciences (not health); Health and Related Sciences & Technology; Education

University:

McMaster University

Program: