The excitatory neurotransmitter receptors AMPAR and NMDAR mediate synaptic transmission and play key roles in synaptic plasticity. Their function heavily relies on molecular trafficking, including receptor exchange between synaptic and extrasynaptic regions over seconds to minutes. Recently developed molecular probes, based on novel fluorescent markers such as quantum dots, permit to track the movement of individual receptors on these extended time scales. With the help of newly available computational methods, the analysis of the recorded trajectories provides insights into the regulation of lateral mobility within the complex environment formed by synaptic structural components. In the lecture, I will provide an introductory overview of these developments. As a specific application, I will present the analysis of subunit-dependent NMDAR mobility in hippocampal neurons, conducted in collaboration with the laboratory of M. Horák (Kortus et al., J. Neurosc. 2023).

Biography

Martin Zápotocký is a researcher and deputy head at the Department of Computational Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology CAS. In his work, he applies mathematical and computational methods to investigate biophysical mechanisms that underlie the development and function of the nervous system.