Research

Astrocytes in the brain 

Astrocytes are a type of brain glial cell. In 1899 Cajal showed the close spatial relationships between astrocytes and neurons in the brain. Subsequent anatomical work a century later showed that a single hippocampal astrocyte can form connections with ~100,000 synapses and that individual astrocytes are tiled in non-overlapping domains. Moreover, astrocytes are known to contribute signaling molecules through a variety of mechanisms. These studies raise the possibility that astrocytes may regulate neuronal function. A major project in the lab seeks to investigate this possibility in the context of neuronal networks in the healthy brain as well as for models of Huntington's disease and obsessive-compulsive disorder. We are using the striatum as a model circuit to explore astrocyte-neuron interactions.

Methods 

All our experiments use patch-clamp electrophysiology in combination with distinct imaging techniques. The main imaging methods in the lab include total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, FRET microscopy, single molecule imaging, spectroscopy, 2-photon microscopy, as well as standard confocal and epifluorescence microscopy. The lab also uses molecular biology methods to engineer receptors, channels, and sensors to refine or improve their performance. Mouse genetics and adeno-associated viruses are being used to express optical sensors in vivo in the brain.