Northwestern Events Calendar

Mar
28
2016

Works-in-Progress: Priscilla Yeung and Anna Toth

When: Monday, March 28, 2016
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CT

Where: Ward Building, 5-230, 303 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 map it

Audience: Faculty/Staff - Student - Public - Post Docs/Docs - Graduate Students

Contact: Alexa Ann Nash   (312) 503-4893

Group: Department of Pharmacology Seminars

Category: Lectures & Meetings

Description:

Please join the Department of Pharmacology for a Works-in-Progress presentation by Priscilla Yeung and Anna Toth. 

Priscilla Yeung - Driskill Graduate Program MD/PhD Student, Prakriya Lab

“Gating of Store-Operated CRAC Channels”

Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels are a family of plasma membrane Ca2+ channels that are activated in response to depletion of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ stores. They are assembled from two proteins: Orai1, the pore-forming subunit, and STIM1, the ER Ca2+ sensor and CRAC channel activator. The crystal structure of Drosophila Orai in the closed state was recently solved, but it remains unclear how STIM1 binding at the cytosolic side of Orai1 leads to pore opening. The overall goal for my research is to understand how CRAC channels open in response to STIM1 activation.

Anna Toth - Neuroscience Graduate Program MD/PhD Student, Prakriya Lab

“Regulation of Astrocyte Ca2+ Signaling and Gliotransmission by Store-Operated CRAC Channels”


In the CNS, astrocytes are physically and functionally associated with pre- and post-synaptic neurons in an anatomical unit known as the tripartite synapse. Neurotransmitters released by neurons drive regulated intracellular Ca2+ elevations in astrocytes through stimulation of GPCRs. In response, astrocytes influence neuronal activity through the release of ‘gliotransmitters’ such as ATP and glutamate. However, the molecules and pathways involved in generating Ca2+ elevations in astrocytes remain poorly understood. In many non-excitable cells, elevations in intracellular Ca2+ arise through the opening of store-operated CRAC channels encoded by the Orai1/STIM1 proteins. Our results support a critical role for CRAC channels for generating astrocyte Ca2+ signals evoked by neurotransmitters and for the release of gliotransmitters in hippocampal astrocytes.

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