Seminars & Speakers

Bringing Novel Optogenetic and Bio-imaging Technologies to Neuroscience
Speaker Won Do Heo Ph.D
Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, KAIST
Date November 9, 2017
Time 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Venue Room N104, Bldg 110
Sponsor UNIST-Life Sciences
Host Chan Young Park
Contact cypark@unist.ac.kr
Phone 2539
My group has been developing various bio-imaging and optogenetic tools for the study of cell signaling in live cells as well as neuronal functions in vivo. Novel optogenetic toolkit developed by my group is highly advantageous compared with conventional approaches in that it allows finely manipulated signaling pathways in a spatial and temporal resolution, thereby making it possible to dissect and analyze the transient dynamics of signaling processes within a defined period. These tools are very useful not only for imaging based researches in cell biology, but also for the studies in neuroscience. Recently developed optogenetic strategies have brought significant changes the way in which signaling in living cells is studied in neurobiology and other disciplines. Novel optogenetic toolkit my group has been developing are capable of providing what channelrhodopsins could not offer previously, contributing in a disparate perspective of neuroscience. We are applying the new technologies to the study of spatiotemporal roles of signaling proteins, second messengers and local mRNA translation in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory in normal and disease mouse models.