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Carthage alumna Amber Petersen ‘08 returns to Carthage Monday, Sept. 23, to speak about her research as part of the Division of Natural Sciences’ Colloquium Series.

Ms. Petersen is a Ph.D. student at the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Department of Cellular Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy. Her research topic is Regulation of Calmodulin, a Signaling Molecule Required for Neuronal Functioning.

Her talk will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in Niemann Media Theatre.

Neurons communicate with either other at specialized sites called synapses. The strength of communication at synapses (aka synaptic transmission) can be modulated in response to changes in synaptic Ca2+ levels. This property of neurons is called synaptic plasticity and provides the cellular mechanism underlying learning and memory.  Calmodulin (CaM) is a Ca2+-binding protein that is a critical mediator of many Ca2+-dependent signaling pathways required for synaptic plasticity.  The levels of CaM are lower than that of its many target proteins, thus CaM availability is thought to be ratelimiting for its signaling.  Despite its importance for synaptic function, factors influencing its availability, such as diffusion and concentration of synaptic CaM have not been tested.  In this study, we have explored the mobility and concentration of CaM in synapses and the effect of a CaM-regulating protein, Neurogranin.