Document Type

Honors Thesis

Major

Biochemistry

Advisor(s)

Zhao Xuan

Committee Members

Edward Bernard, Benjamin King, Jennifer Newell-Caito

Graduation Year

May 2024

Publication Date

Spring 5-2024

Abstract

Dysfunctional or loss of synaptic transmission is a major contributing factor to many neurological and neurodevelopmental diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease. To develop novel approaches to treating these diseases, understanding the structures and proteins related to synaptic development and function is essential. Within the synapse is the presynaptic site, containing the active and periactive zones, at which synaptic vesicles containing neurotransmitters are released. The active zone’s primary role is mediating neurotransmitter release via exocytosis, and the periactive zone sorts and recycles synaptic vesicles via endocytosis. However, how periactive zone proteins localize to the presynapse and how they interact with the active zone proteins to support synaptic transmission are poorly understood. I performed a set of experiments in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to characterize the subcellular localization of a periactive zone protein. Specifically, I examine whether the synaptic localization of the periactive zone protein APT-4 requires the motor protein kinesin-1. I crossed a periactive zone marker, APT-4, into a unc-116(e2310)/kinesin-1 mutant worm strain and via compound microscopy image the synaptic localization of the marker in neurons. My observations and analyses suggest that the transport of the periactive zone protein APT-4 to synapses may require UNC-116/kinesin-1. From these findings, further research on active-periactive zone interactions can be done to better understand their connections to synaptic transmission and thereby synaptic defects implicated in certain neurological diseases.

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