Roger Nicoll, MD

Professor
M_CMP (Cellular Molecular Pha)
[email protected]
415-476-2018

The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Synaptic Plasticity

My lab is interested in elucidating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory in the mammalian brain. Long-term potentiation (LTP), a phenomenon in which brief repetitive activity causes a long lasting (many weeks) enhancement in the strength of synaptic transmission, is generally accepted to be a key cellular substrate for learning and memory. My lab uses a combination of electrophysiological and molecular techniques to elucidate the molecular basis of LTP. We have found that LTP involves the rapid activity-dependent trafficking of glutamate receptors to the synapse. This trafficking requires the interaction of two families of synaptic proteins. One family is a novel group of proteins that, we discovered which bind to glutamate receptors and act as auxiliary subunits. These proteins are not only essential for the trafficking of the glutamate receptors, but also control the gating of the receptor channel. The other family is comprised of a family of scaffolding proteins that bind to the auxiliary subunits and thereby anchor the receptors at the synapse. Much of the current work in the lab is focused on how activity controls this receptor trafficking and how the increase in synaptic strength during LTP is stabilized and maintained.

Current Projects

  1. AMPA receptor subunits in receptor trafficking
  2. MAGUK scaffolding proteins in anchoring synaptic AMPA receptors
  3. Conditional knock out mice to explore the role of synaptic proteins in glutamate receptor trafficking
  4. TARPs control of AMPA receptor gating
  5. Activity dependent trafficking of NMDA receptors
Academic community service and committee membership:

NS admissions committee

Publications

SynGO: An Evidence-Based, Expert-Curated Knowledge Base for the Synapse.

Koopmans F, van Nierop P, Andres-Alonso M, Byrnes A, Cijsouw T, Coba MP, Cornelisse LN, Farrell RJ, Goldschmidt HL, Howrigan DP, Hussain NK, Imig C, de Jong APH, Jung H, Kohansalnodehi M, Kramarz B, Lipstein N, Lovering RC, MacGillavry H, Mariano V, Mi H, Ninov M, Osumi-Sutherland D, Pielot R, Smalla KH, Tang H, Tashman K, Toonen RFG, Verpelli C, Reig-Viader R, Watanabe K, van Weering J, Achsel T, Ashrafi G, Asi N, Brown TC, De Camilli P, Feuermann M, Foulger RE, Gaudet P, Joglekar A, Kanellopoulos A, Malenka R, Nicoll RA, Pulido C, de Juan-Sanz J, Sheng M, Südhof TC, Tilgner HU, Bagni C, Bayés À, Biederer T, Brose N, Chua JJE, Dieterich DC, Gundelfinger ED, Hoogenraad C, Huganir RL, Jahn R, Kaeser PS, Kim E, Kreutz MR, McPherson PS, Neale BM, O'Connor V, Posthuma D, Ryan TA, Sala C, Feng G, Hyman SE, Thomas PD, Smit AB, Verhage M

Climate change and the integrity of science.

eLife

Gleick PH, Adams RM, Amasino RM, Anders E, Anderson DJ, Anderson WW, Anselin LE, Arroyo MK, Asfaw B, Ayala FJ, Bax A, Bebbington AJ, Bell G, Bennett MV, Bennetzen JL, Berenbaum MR, Berlin OB, Bjorkman PJ, Blackburn E, Blamont JE, Botchan MR, Boyer JS, Boyle EA, Branton D, Briggs SP, Briggs WR, Brill WJ, Britten RJ, Broecker WS, Brown JH, Brown PO, Brunger AT, Cairns J, Canfield DE, Carpenter SR, Carrington JC, Cashmore AR, Castilla JC, Cazenave A, Chapin FS, Ciechanover AJ, Clapham DE, Clark WC, Clayton RN, Coe MD, Conwell EM, Cowling EB, Cowling RM, Cox CS, Croteau RB, Crothers DM, Crutzen PJ, Daily GC, Dalrymple GB, Dangl JL, Darst SA, Davies DR, Davis MB, De Camilli PV, Dean C, DeFries RS, Deisenhofer J, Delmer DP, DeLong EF, DeRosier DJ, Diener TO, Dirzo R, Dixon JE, Donoghue MJ, Doolittle RF, Dunne T, Ehrlich PR, Eisenstadt SN, Eisner T, Emanuel KA, Englander SW, Ernst WG, Falkowski PG, Feher G, Ferejohn JA, Fersht A, Fischer EH, Fischer R, Flannery KV, Frank J, Frey PA, Fridovich I, Frieden C, Futuyma DJ, Gardner WR, Garrett CJ, Gilbert W, Goldberg RB, Goodenough WH, Goodman CS, Goodman M, Greengard P, Hake S, Hammel G, Hanson S, Harrison SC, Hart SR, Hartl DL, Haselkorn R, Hawkes K, Hayes JM, Hille B, Hökfelt T, House JS, Hout M, Hunten DM, Izquierdo IA, Jagendorf AT, Janzen DH, Jeanloz R, Jencks CS, Jury WA, Kaback HR, Kailath T, Kay P, Kay SA, Kennedy D, Kerr A, Kessler RC, Khush GS, Kieffer SW, Kirch PV, Kirk K, Kivelson MG, Klinman JP, Klug A, Knopoff L, Kornberg H, Kutzbach JE, Lagarias JC, Lambeck K, Landy A, Langmuir CH, Larkins BA, Le Pichon XT, Lenski RE, Leopold EB, Levin SA, Levitt M, Likens GE, Lippincott-Schwartz J, Lorand L, Lovejoy CO, Lynch M, Mabogunje AL, Malone TF, Manabe S, Marcus J, Massey DS, McWilliams JC, Medina E, Melosh HJ, Meltzer DJ, Michener CD, Miles EL, Mooney HA, Moore PB, Morel FM, Mosley-Thompson ES, Moss B, Munk WH, Myers N, Nair GB, Nathans J, Nester EW, Nicoll RA, Novick RP, O'Connell JF, Olsen PE, Opdyke ND, Oster GF, Ostrom E, Pace NR, Paine RT, Palmiter RD, Pedlosky J, Petsko GA, Pettengill GH, Philander SG, Piperno DR, Pollard TD, Price PB, Reichard PA, Reskin BF, Ricklefs RE, Rivest RL, Roberts JD, Romney AK, Rossmann MG, Russell DW, Rutter WJ, Sabloff JA, Sagdeev RZ, Sahlins MD, Salmond A, Sanes JR, Schekman R, Schellnhuber J, Schindler DW, Schmitt J, Schneider SH, Schramm VL, Sederoff RR, Shatz CJ, Sherman F, Sidman RL, Sieh K, Simons EL, Singer BH, Singer MF, Skyrms B, Sleep NH, Smith BD, Snyder SH, Sokal RR, Spencer CS, Steitz TA, Strier KB, Südhof TC, Taylor SS, Terborgh J, Thomas DH, Thompson LG, Tjian RT, Turner MG, Uyeda S, Valentine JW, Valentine JS, Van Etten JL, van Holde KE, Vaughan M, Verba S, von Hippel PH, Wake DB, Walker A, Walker JE, Watson EB, Watson PJ, Weigel D, Wessler SR, West-Eberhard MJ, White TD, Wilson WJ, Wolfenden RV, Wood JA, Woodwell GM, Wright HE, Wu C, Wunsch C, Zoback ML