Sivakumar Sambandan

Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences - D

Zinc in neuronal synapses - quantitive aspects using high resolution imaging.

Zinc is known to be enriched at neuronal synapses for decades. However, the precise functional role of zinc in neuronal communication is poorly understood. Using state of the art imaging techniques, we strive to decipher quantitative aspects of synaptic zinc biology. Our approach has three aspects. 1) Using Minflux nanoscopy, a recently developed super resolution microscope that reaches isotropic spatial resolution of approximately 1 nm, we strive to characterize zincergic vesicles as never before. 2) Second, using single particle cryo electron microscopy (EM), we try to understand the transport mechanism of ZnT3, a membrane protein responsible for loading zinc into synaptic vesicles. 3) Finally, using the data from the above approaches, electrophysiology and conventional biochemistry, we try to model the comprehensive function of synaptic zinc in neuronal health and disease. Our endeavour is to dissect synaptic mechanisms that are poorly understood in a broad range of brain disorders.