James Robertson
Middle Tennessee State University, TN·Neuroscience
Cells communicate by releasing small chemical messengers. Neuropeptides are short protein-based signals made by neurons.
- Fields
Neuroscience
Biology
Genetics
- Topics
neuropeptides
dense core vesicles
Drosophila
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Create new transgenic Drosophila lines that tag the flies' own neuropeptides with fluorescent markers such as mScarlett3, using tissue-specific CRISPR, to confirm that neuropeptides are sorted into dense core vesicles at the mRNA level.
- Track the sorting, trafficking and release of tagged neuropeptides in real time inside living fly neurons, using high-resolution, ultrafast fluorescence and confocal microscopy.
- Identify the proteins in the trans-Golgi network, the cell's packaging station, that sort neuropeptides into vesicles, using genetic, biomolecular, electrophysiological and pharmacological approaches.
- Test whether each vesicle carries a protein complex unique to its neuropeptide by genetically altering the structure of trafficking and release proteins such as synaptotagmin.
More about the research
They help control development, body function and behavior, and the human brain uses hundreds of different ones, most with unique effects. Before release, neuropeptides are packed into storage bubbles called dense core vesicles (DCVs). Several key steps remain poorly understood in living animals: how a cell decides which neuropeptide goes into which vesicle, how the peptides are processed into their active form, and how they are released. Errors in packaging or release are linked to neurological and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
Why it matters
Problems in making, moving or releasing neuropeptides are strongly linked to neurological and neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Mutations in synaptotagmins in humans are tied to such disorders. Identifying the proteins and pathways that control neuropeptide sorting and release could reveal candidate targets for future genetic or drug treatments.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Julia Von Blume
Yale University, CT·Biology
Define the molecular requirements for chromogranins and Cab45 to form liquid condensates by liquid-liquid phase separation, using reconstituted systems that mimic the chemical environment inside the trans-Golgi Network.
Edwin R Chapman
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Neuroscience
Measure opening, closing, widening and ion selectivity of single SNARE-formed fusion pores at microsecond resolution, using nanodiscs fused to an artificial lipid membrane and electrical recording.
Comert Kural
Ohio State University, OH·Biophysics
Build and iteratively optimize a 3D TIRF-SIM microscope, combining surface-limited illumination, patterned-light super-resolution and evanescent field nanometry, for the best spatial and temporal resolution.
The school
Middle Tennessee State University: 2 labs on PI Pages, $9M a year on research, 80 research doctorates a year.
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