Institute of Molecular Medicine
State key laboratory of Membrane Biology
PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research
Title：New Tools for Measuring Rapid Neurochemical Changes: Insight into Dopamine and Adenosine Signaling
Speaker：B. Jill Venton, Ph.D.
Department of Chemistry and Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Virginia, USA
Time：2018年9月25日（星期二）上午10:00-11:00
Host：北京大学分子医学研究所 周 专 (Tel. 6275-3212)
Abstract: Rapid neurochemical communication is important for brain function and tools are necessary to track how neurotransmission and neuromodulation changes during disease. Our lab has used rapid electrochemical techniques to monitor real-time changes in the brain of a variety of model systems. In the fruit fly, we have developed techniques to track dopamine changes and are using these to study how acetylcholine and nicotine elicit dopamine release or how dopamine release changes in mutants that might be relevant to Parkinson disease. In rats and mice, we have developed the ability to measure real-time changes in the neuromodulator adenosine, which is an important neuroprotective molecule. Rapid changes in adenosine occur during stroke and can signal for local changes in oxygen release. Overall, new tools for monitoring neurotransmission are providing a better understanding of how chemical transmission occurs in the brain and how it changes during disease.
