Post-transcriptional gene regulation in mature neurons

OF THE DISSERTATION ........................................................................... ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.................................................................................. ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. xi VITA ................................................................................................................................ xiv 1 The cell biology of synaptic plasticity ....................................................................... 1 1.1 History of synaptic plasticity................................................................................. 1 1.2 Presynaptic mechanisms of plasticity ................................................................... 8 1.2.1 Synapsins and synaptic vesicle mobilization ................................................... 8 1.2.2 SNARES, RIM proteins and synaptic vesicle docking and priming ............. 11 1.3 Postsynaptic mechanisms of plasticity ................................................................ 12 1.3.1 Activation of post-synaptic kinases in the spine: CamKIIα and PKMζ ........ 12 1.3.2 Activity-dependent modulation of postsynaptic glutamate receptors ............ 14 1.4 Trans-synaptic signaling: the synaptic cleft ........................................................ 17 1.4.1 Role of CAMs in synaptic plasticity .............................................................. 17 1.4.2 Trans-synaptic signaling by retrograde messengers ...................................... 18 1.5 The tripartite synapse: glia and synaptic plasticity ............................................. 19 1.6 Regulating gene expression within neurons during plasticity ............................. 19 1.6.1 Signaling from synapse to nucleus to regulate transcription ......................... 20 1.6.2 Local protein synthesis .................................................................................. 21 1.6.3 Local protein degradation .............................................................................. 26 1.7 Perspectives ......................................................................................................... 27