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Untersuchung von Tubulin-Polyglutamylierung/-Deglutamylierung in der Regulation synaptischer Transportprozesse sowie deren Einfluß auf Lernen und Gedächtnis.

Subject Area Molecular Biology and Physiology of Neurons and Glial Cells
Term from 2011 to 2015
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 200062856
 
Final Report Year 2015

Final Report Abstract

Polyglutamylation (poly-Glu) of tubulin is a posttranslational modification of microtubules, which is thought to affect the binding of microtubule-associated proteins and motor proteins with the cytoskeleton. Little is known about the role of poly-Glu in cytoskeletal transport. We observed preliminary results, suggesting that poly-Glu affects the motor-cargo delivery of synaptic proteins. The aim of the project was to study synaptic trafficking and cognitive function in a genetic mouse model with reduced poly-Glu levels. We established a knockout mouse of the major neuronal polyglutamylase TTLL1 by using animals provided by the European Mouse Mutant Archive EMMA. After extensive characterization it turned out that these mice were genetically incorrect and may carry a phantom allele. Therefore, we had to take an alternative approach. We successfully generated three knock-in mouse mutant lines by our own, which carry point mutations in the tubulin C-terminal tail to abolish polyglutamylation. In parallel, we established live cell imaging with a spinning disk microscope to visualize neuronal transport in live. The characterization of marker proteins for anterograde and retrograde transport of synaptic receptors are suitable for studying poly-Glu-dependent transport. We also developed mouse behavioral assays in the lab to study poly-Glu mouse mutants in cognition. These experiments are available for in vivo analysis of the respective mutant lines. Although the original aims could not be reached in the funding period, we finally generated and established the required animals and assays. It is expected that we will now be able to finish our original aims in a reasonable time scale.

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