The research in the Ehlers Lab is
directed at understanding protein trafficking
and turnover in dendrites and its relationship
to synapse formation and function.
The complex morphology of the neuron,
with its elaborately branched dendrites
onto which impinge hundreds to thousands
of individual synapses, requires that
highly specialized mechanisms exist
for localizing, maintaining, and removing
proteins at the synapse. Such mechanisms
are crucial for the initial establishment
of postsynaptic specializations during
synaptogenesis, and for activity-dependent
changes in synaptic strength that underlie
experience-dependent plasticity.
Using a combination of state-of-the-art
live cell imaging, protein biochemistry,
and electrophysiology, we are actively
pursuing three major lines of ongoing
research in the lab. First, we are
studying the molecular and cellular
mechanisms which regulate the trafficking
of ionotropic glutamate receptors to
and from the synapse. Second, we are
studying the dynamics and regulation
of the endocytic machinery in dendrites
and dendritic spines. Third, we are
working to determine how protein stability
is controlled at the postsynaptic membrane
and, in particular, investigating the
role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system
in postsynaptic remodeling.
