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Signal Transduction in the Brain
Presented on August 10, 2001 by Paul Greengard, PhD, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, The Rockefeller University
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"...in a way, signaling in the brain is complicated, and yet on the other hand [it is] beautifully simple. The more we learn, the more complex these pathways are that we have been working on, the more relatively simple principles we find."
Paul Greengard
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Paul Greengard, Ph.D., Vincent Astor Professor of Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences at Rockefeller University and winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in communication between nerve cells, talks about current understanding of the complex biochemistry of signal transduction in the brain. He discusses the implications of his ongoing work in the potential for novel pharmaceutical treatments of various neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Paul Greengard, Ph.D., Vincent Astor Professor of Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences at Rockefeller University, has devoted most of his research career to studying communication between nerve cells. His contribution to our understanding of biochemical signaling in the brain was recently recognized with the award of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
In this lecture, Dr. Greengard discusses the progress his lab and others have made toward understanding the complexities of nerve cell communication, both on the cellular and molecular level. He presents the discoveries of several important chemical mediators and their roles in synaptic transmission.
Dr. Greengard had long suspected that protein phosphorylation--the attachment of a phosphate to a protein, altering its shape and function--played a significant role in signal transduction in the brain, but the concept was controversial. In fact, the idea that biochemistry was involved in brain functioning at all was once seriously doubted. Dr. Greengard's work revealed protein phosphorylation to be a key process in the functioning of neurotransmitters and other brain proteins.
The lecture highlights the importance of protein phosphorylation in signal transduction, and current understanding of the various pathways and mechanisms that have evolved to regulate the balance of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in nerve cells.
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Lecture Video
Pre-Lecture Video
- Transcript of Pre-Lecture Interview
As a preview to his lecture, "Signal Transduction in the Brain," Dr. Paul Greengard shares some of his thoughts with Boston University Professor of Biology, Dr. David Shepro, on what it takes to be a successful neuroscientist and his vision of the future in the field of brain research.
Lecture transcript
- Part 1 - Communication Between Nerve Cells / Fast and Slow Synaptic Transmission
- Part 2 - Biochemical Pathways in Nerve Cell Function
- Part 3 - Two Major Neurotransmitters-Dopamine and Glutamate
- Part 4 - Importance of DARPP-32 Phosphorylation / Spinophilin's Role
- Part 5 - Regulation of DARPP-32 Phosphorylation / Caseinkinase1 (CK1), Casenkinase 2 (CK2), and CDK5
About Paul Greengard
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