Wenjing Wang, from the University of Michigan, will deliver a seminar entitled, "Optogenetic sensors and tools for studying brain signaling and neurodegenerative diseases." Hosted by Tania Lupoli.
For more information about Wenjing Wang, click here.
Abstract: Opioid signaling plays critical roles in many physiological processes, including pain modulation, reward and respiration suppression. Investigating where the synthetic opioids and endogenous opioids exert their actions is critical for a better understanding of opioid signaling. In this talk, I will show a new class of fluorescent integration sensors that can detect opioid molecules and leave a fluorescence mark for further analysis. These opioid sensors could potentially be used for mapping both synthetic and endogenous opioid molecules across the animal brain with high spatial resolution. Additionally, I will show the design of alpha-synuclein fibril-specific nanobodies that selectively bind to the alpha-synuclein fibrils over monomers. The fibril-selective nanobody was shown to inhibit alpha-synuclein pathology development in both neuronal cultures and Parkinson’s Disease mouse models.