Seminar Series
Location of all seminars:Human Genetics Institute-Auditorium
Life Sciences Building
145 Bevier Road
Busch Campus, Piscataway, NJ
Time of all seminars:
12:00pm - Mondays (unless otherwise posted)
Upcoming Seminars
Nov 19 2009
"Regulation of neuronal plasticity and memory by CREB-dependent gene expression"Dr. Angel Barco More info »
Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante (UMH-CSIC), Alicante, Spain
Alterations in patterns of gene expression are thought to underlie the long-lasting changes in the strength of synaptic connections between neurons responsible for the encoding of memories in the nervous system. Studies in different organisms indicate that CREB-dependent gene expression is one of the core components in the molecular switch that stabilizes long-term forms of synaptic plasticity and converts short- to long-term memory.
Nov 23 2009
"Coping with a Defective Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase"Dr. A. James Link More info »
Chemical Engineering and Molecular Biology Dept., Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
We have rationally engineered an E. coli strain to enable the incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins via replacement of the chromosomal copy of the methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS) gene with an engineered mutant. The engineered MetRS variant, however, is defective with regards to methionine activation. We are using microarray data to catalog the effects of this insult on the cellular protein synthesis machinery. Our results will be discussed in the context of the robustness of protein synthesis.
Nov 30 2009
"Human TUBB3 mutations perturb microtubule dynamics, kinesin interactions, and axon guidance."Dr. Max Tischfield More info »
Research Fellow, Children's Hospital Boston, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, MA
Congenital human eye movement disorders are a sensitive indicator for gene mutations that affect nervous system development. By ascertaining patients across the world with various types of inherited eye-movement disorders, we have used linkage analysis to identify spectrums of previously uncharacterized neurological syndromes that affect brain, spinal cord, and even vascular development. Our most recent findings involve the identification of several heterozygous mutations in a neuron-specific ß-tubulin isotype. Patients harboring these mutations all have ocular motility restrictions, whereas subsets also have intellectual and behavioral impairments, facial paralysis, and degeneration of motor and sensory axons. Neuroradiologic findings reveal a spectrum of abnormalities including hypoplasia of oculomotor nerves, and dysgenesis of the corpus callosum, anterior commissure, and corticospinal tracts. We have further demonstrated in mouse that the ß-tubulin isotype is required for normal axon guidance, and modeling the mutations in yeast shows that each alters the dynamic behavior of microtubules, whereas a subset disrupts their interactions with kinesin motor proteins. Patients harboring the latter mutations have progressive peripheral neuropathy, emphasizing the role of motor protein trafficking defects in human neurodegenerative disease. Overall, our recent work has established a requirement for a specific ß-tubulin isotype in axon guidance and maintenance, and strongly suggests that highly conserved ß-tubulin isotypes can have distinct cellular functions.
Dec 7 2009
"Neurobiology of Infant Attachment"Dr. Regina Sullivan
Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research Childr and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Langone Medical Center, Orangeburg, NY
Altricial infants must learn to attach to their caregiver. While the attachment neural circuit has not been identified in humans, research in the rat is documenting this circuitry. Specifically, pups have the enhanced ability to acquire learned preferences, which is supported by the hyperfunctioning locus coeruleus and olfactory bulb plasticity. Additionally, infants have a decreased ability to acquire learned aversions/fear, and this behavior is supported through attenuated amygdala activity. With maturation, the developing rat’s social behavior and underlying circuitry transition to a more “adult-like’ learning system to accommodate life outside the nest.
Jan 11 2010
"TBA"Dr. Hemant Tiwari More info »
Biostatistics Dept., University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
TBA
Feb 1 2010
"Molecular motors and microtubule based transport."Dr. Kristen Verhey
University of Michigan
TBA
Mar 8 2010
"Contribution of short RNAs to regulation of gene expression through chromantin; epigentic phenomena in C. elegans"Dr. Alla Grishok More info »
Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University Medical Center, Ny, NY
TBA
Mar 29 2010
"Homolog pairing, recombination, transvection, polycomb group genes"Dr. Ting Wu More info »
Department of Genetics, Havard Medical School, Boston, MA
TBA
Apr 12 2010
"Molecular genetics of ovarian cancer"Dr. Jian-Jun Wei
Dept. of Pathology, Norwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
TBA
May 3 2010
"Aging and stress defense in C. elegans"Dr. Keith Blackwell
Harvard University, Boston, MA
TBA