deepNMDAR · DEEP BRAIN TISSUE IMAGING OF GLUTAMATE NMDAR

Unrevealing the rules that govern the surface trafficking and membrane stabilization of neurotransmitter receptors, in particular the NMDAR is crucial for our understanding of several physiopathological brain processes. Over the past few years, scientists have shown that neurotransmitter receptors diffuse inside and out of synapses in cultured neurons using single molecule approaches. These findings drastically changed the way we understand synaptic transmission and adaptation. The proposed project aims to study the surface diffusion of NMDAR in intact hippocampal slices, providing the first functional map of such key receptors in native neuronal networks. Due to the difficulties of imaging single molecules in high background noise tissue, a multidisciplinary approach will be adopted using quantum dots and single walled nanotubes to track single NMDAR neurotransmitters. The success of the project will be a real breakthrough in neurobiology of synapses and in single molecule imaging techniques, conjugating state of the art knowledge in neurosciences and nanophotonics.