OConnorWebsite: University of Minnesota

Rachel Herder

Research Interests:

Currently I am working on 2 projects in lab:

1. The mouse TGF-beta activated kinase 1 (Tak1) has 3 D. melanogaster homologues: dTak1, Takl1 (Tak1-like 1), and Takl2 (Tak1-like 2). While dTak1 is known to be a MAPKKK involved in immune response, Takl1 and Takl2 have not been well characterized. Both are small proteins (<400 amino acids) and have conserved putative MAPKKK domains. Takl1 and Takl2 seem to be required for proper fly development, however, the temporal and spatial expression of these genes is unknown. I am looking at the role of Takl1 and Takl2 during early fly development.

2. Long term potentiation (LTP), or ‘cell memory’ occurs in the hippocampus of mammals. In mice hippocampal sections LTP can be measured by a brief train of stimuli to any of the three major synaptic pathways. This stimulation increases the amplitude of the excitatory post-synaptic potentials in the target hippocampal neurons. I am interested to see if there are variations in pre-synaptic vesicles that correspond to ability of mice CA3 hippocampal neurons to respond to stimuli. To do this, I am using a combination of cryo-fixation and freeze-substitution to prepare mouse hippocampal sections for TEM in order to analyze the difference in number, size and type of pre-synaptic vesicles in mouse CA3 hippocampal neurons.