Time: 14th Oct., 2019, 3:00 pm
Venue: Conference Room 204, Conference Center
Lecturer: Prof. Hiro Furukawa, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Abstract:
Neurotransmission and cellular signaling mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are fundamental to brain development and functions including learning and memory. Dysfunctional NMDARs are implicated in various neurological diseases and disorders including depression, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and schizophrenia making them relevant targets for therapy. NMDARs are ligand-gated ion channels, which open their transmembrane ion channels upon application of glycine, glutamate, and voltage. Various combinations of NMDAR subunits including GluN1, GluN2 (A-D), and GluN3 (A-B) give rise to heterotetrameric ion channels with distinct ion channel properties and spatio-temporal expression patterns. In this talk, I will go over how we dissected the sophisticated functions of NMDARs by a combination of structural biology, electrophysiology, and other biophysical methods. I will also go over strategies for developing reagents that are useful for subtype-specific targeting.
Introduction:
Professor Hiro Furukawa completed his B. A. (1995) at the Tufts University and Ph. D. (2001) at the University of Tokyo. He was post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University from 2001 until 2005, post-doctoral associate at Vollum Institute from 2005 until 2006. Between 2007 and 2011, he has been worked as assistant professor at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and associate professor at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory from 2011 to 2016. Since 2017, he became a professor at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and attempts to understand the molecular basis for cellular signaling initiated by cell surface proteins such as ion channels and receptors using electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) and x-ray crystallography. He has published more than 30 articles in Nature, Science, Nat Commun., Neuron, PLoS Genet, Mol Pharmacol., et al. Moreover, he had received American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant Award (2009), Alzheimer’s Association Young Investigator Grant award (2010), Mirus Bio Research Award (2011), James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Faculty Award (2012), and Burroughs Wellcome Fund Collaborative Research (2014).
Contact: ZHANG Xiaozhe, Group 18T3
Phone: 84379667