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SUMMARY:Perutz Lecture- How synapses work:  Architecture and mechanism of 
 neurotransmitter receptors and transporters - Eric Gouaux
DTSTART:20181129T160000Z
DTEND:20181129T170000Z
UID:TALK104164@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Scientific Meetings Co-ordinator
DESCRIPTION:Synapses are the electrical switches of the brain\, underpinni
 ng much of the signaling between neurons and directly involved in nearly a
 ll aspects of innate and learned behaviors.  The key signaling machinery 
 – neurotransmitter receptors and transporters – are also implicated in
  a large number of neurological diseases or disorders and are the targets 
 of multiple therapeutic agents and illicit substances. Synapses are sites 
 of three choreographed processes – calcium-dependent release of neurotra
 nsmitter into extracellular spaces\, detection of neurotransmitter by ion 
 channels\, and removal of neurotransmitter by transporters.  In my talk I 
 will focus on the last two activities.  \n\nOn the one hand\, binding of t
 he released neurotransmitters to transmitter-gated ion channels initiates 
 local changes in membrane potential and these changes\, when summed\, init
 iate action potentials that are propagated throughout neuronal circuits.  
 On the other hand\, the ion channels also allow for calcium entry into cel
 ls\, thus initiating chemical signaling via calcium-dependent pathways.  Q
 uenching of the neurotransmitter within the synapse and surrounding spaces
  is accomplished by membrane-bound transporters\, molecular machines that 
 harness pre-existing ion gradients to ‘pump’ transmitter into cells\, 
 thereby enabling subsequent cycles of neurotransmitter signaling. \n\nHere
 \, I illuminate how neurotransmitters transduce binding events into the op
 ening of ion channel-coupled receptors\, and on the fascinating mechanisms
  by which neurotransmitter transporters take-up transmitter from the synap
 tic cleft and are modulated by clinically relevant drugs.\n\n
LOCATION:Max Perutz Lecture Theatre\, Medical Research Council (MRC) (MRC 
 Laboratory of Molecular Biol
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