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Lutas – Kerspern – 2024

Mentor: Andrew Lutas, Ph.D. | andrew.lutas@nih.gov
Lab
Neuromodulation and motivation section
NIDDK
Mentor: Damien Kerspern, Ph.D. | damien.kerpsern@nih.gov
Lab
Neuromodulation and motivation section
NIDDK

Multiphoton microscopy of genetically-encoded reporters of biochemical signals in astrocytes

The Neuromodulation and Motivation Section focuses on understanding how receptor-driven molecular signals influence the learning of food-predicting cues and the motivation to seek food. Glial cells are a critical yet overlooked component of brain circuits. Like neurons, they express receptors for a neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Many of these receptors are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that signal by regulating intracellular levels of cAMP. Using our lab’s expertise and toolset to study cAMP signaling in live animals, this project will engineer astrocyte-specific versions of these tools to study the role of astrocyte cAMP signaling. 

A BESIP summer intern would:

  • Help engineer new astrocyte-targeted reagents for monitoring biochemical signals in astrocytes.
  • Prepare brain slices for live cell imaging experiments.
  • Perform 2-photon imaging experiments to investigate astrocyte cAMP signaling in response to neuromodulators.
  • Analyze high-dimensional imaging datasets using available and custom-written software.
  • Help explore the role of astrocyte cAMP signaling during ingestive behaviors in mice.