An investigator carrying out research on the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity and memory storage has won the Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology 2008. By revealing the importance of translational control in the formation of long-lasting memories, Dr Mauro Costa-Mattioli’s research could help to develop new treatments for major brain disorders including impaired memory function in ageing and neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Costa-Mattioli (pictured), who performed his studies at McGill University, Canada, and now at Baylor College of Medicine in the USA, has demonstrated that phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2? may be a type of molecular switch that contributes to enduring long-lasting memories. In mice in which eIF2? phosphorylation is reduced, long-lasting synaptic changes and memory are enhanced. In contrast, increased eIF2? phosphorylation in the hippocampus has opposite, depressant effects on long-lasting synaptic changes and memory.
Dr Costa-Mattioli and his new team at Baylor College of Medicine are applying a variety of approaches such as transgenic manipulation, shRNA and miRNA delivery using lentiviral vectors, molecular, biochemical, behavioural and neurophysiological methodologies to study activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength, learning and memory and cognitive disorders associated with memory loss.
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