“Development of a synthetic neurotransmission system”

The Synthetic Biology Young Speaker Series (SynBYSS) is a yearlong, weekly, virtual seminar series.

The series is organized and chaired by Tae Seok Moon, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering.

The series will consist of a short, inspiring talk by a global thought or synthetic biology leader, followed by a longer talk by a rising star in synthetic biology.

Abstract: A synthetic and orthogonal neurotransmission system may be useful for studying neural circuit function. Nematodes do not use histamine, making it a platform for building such a system. We have expressed histamine synthesis and synaptic vesicle packaging machinery in specific C elegans neurons, transforming them into synthetically histaminergic cells that signal to post-synaptic cells expressing transgenic histamine-activated receptors. This orthogonal synthetic system functions with both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. Synthetic histaminergic signaling is sustained over longer timescales than endogenous transmitters, requiring the Incorporation of histamine degradation systems to generate more biologically relevant signaling timescales.

A discussion will follow.

For more information,  join the Slack group.