| Details: |
Our neurons send and receive signals, so we can happily say “cogito ergo sum”. However,
when this process is disturbed by disease-causing molecules, we can even forget who we
are. The fundamental molecular basis of neuronal signalling is the release of a small
messenger (‘neurotransmitter’) molecule through a transient pore in the lipid membrane of
one neuron, and its subsequent capture by a protein (“receptor”) molecule on the membrane
of another. While the biophysics of the transmitter-receptor interaction is well-established,
the role of the ever-present membrane in the signalling process is poorly understood. We
have been recently exploring the physical properties of biologically relevant lipid
membranes, using physics-based tools for single-molecule and nano-scale measurements.
It turns out that many of the puzzles about how normal signalling occurs, how some proteins
can be neurotoxic, and how some drugs of abuse can affect the brain, are related to how the
material properties of the membrane change under these conditions. |