Optical control of calcium switches that orchestrate fast signaling in the brain. (A07)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 278001972

Cytoplasmic increases in calcium trigger enzymatic cascades responsible for synaptic plasticity in the brain. However, to date, genetically-encoded approaches to control calcium abundance, and the cognate enzymes calcium activates, are lacking. We will endow CaMKII, a kinase activated by calcium that is essential to memory formation, with optical control through unnatural amino acids. We also aim to enable rapid changes in cytoplasmic calcium through light-activated calcium-selective ion channels. By deploying these tools in neurons and their dendrites, this project aims to elucidate dynamic aspects of synaptic signalling in space and time.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios
• Subproject of: TRR 186: Molecular Switches: Spatio-temporal Control of Cellular Signal Transmission
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Peter Hegemann; Professor Dr. Andrew Plested