Speaker: Yee Lian Chew, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Title: Learning about learning through the worm
External attendees, if you would like to attend in person please contact Max Behzadi: mbehzadi@mrclmb.ac.uk
Abstract: Learning is essential for survival. Evidence suggests that memories are formed through changes in protein expression or localisation in specific brain regions. Our goal is to map the full complement of protein changes that occur during learning, in distinct subcellular compartments, within specific brain cells. To achieve this, we use proximity labelling to identify proteins that are dynamically regulated during learning within the experimentally accessible Caenorhabditis elegans (worm) brain. Our data demonstrate that this strategy efficiently labels known regulators of learning and memory, including components of cAMP, MAPK, and G protein signalling, and proteins involved in synaptic vesicle exocytosis. We have also discovered novel regulators of learning, including ligand-gated ion channels, as well as proteins involved in fatty acid metabolism and protein quality control. Using a similar strategy, we have begun mapping learning-associated protein changes at synapses and have uncovered additional candidate regulators. Together, these findings establish proximity labelling as a powerful approach for defining the molecular mechanisms of learning, with broad potential for application to other organisms and behaviours.
