Faculty

Gyorgy Lonart, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Lewis Hall, Room 3077
Office: (757) 446-5643
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Research Interests

Synaptic Mechanisms of Memory and Sleep

The chemical synapse is a specialized cell-to-cell contact site that connects neurons in the central nervous system. Neurotransmitters are released from synaptic vesicles after an invading action potential increases calcium levels in nerve terminals and induces exocytosis. Released neurotransmitters activate their receptors and transduce their signal to the internal milieu of the postsynaptic cell, completing synaptic transmission. Activity-dependent modification of synaptic transmission plays an essential role in memory formation and modifies both behavior and sleep. These processes may be key targets for treating memory and sleep pathologies. The laboratory is investigating these mechanisms by using approaches that include genetic, molecular, biochemical, neurochemical, behavioral and (in collaboration with the Sanford Laboratory) sleep physiology methods.

Selected Publications

• The role of RIM1alpha in BDNF-enhanced glutamate release. Simsek-Duran F, Lonart G. Neuropharmacology. 2008 55:27-34. PMID: 18499195
• The role of active zone protein Rab3 interacting molecule 1 alpha in the regulation of norepinephrine release, response to novelty, and sleep. Lonart G, Tang X, Simsek-Duran F, Machida M, Sanford LD. Neuroscience. 2008 154:821-31. PMID: 18495360
• Synapsin II and calcium regulate vesicle docking and the cross-talk between vesicle pools at the mouse motor terminals. Coleman WL, Bill CA, Simsek-Duran F, Lonart G, Samigullin D, Bykhovskaia M. J Physiol. 2008 586:4649-73. PMID: 18669537
• Transient fear-induced alterations in evoked release of norepinephrine and GABA in amygdala slices. Liu X, Lonart G, Sanford LD. Brain Res. 2007 1142:46-53. 2007 Jan 18. PMID: 17303088
• Deletion of synapsins I and II genes alters the size of vesicular pools and rabphilin phosphorylation. Lonart G, Simsek-Duran F. Brain Res. 2006 1107:42-51. PMID: 16844103
• Adapter protein 14-3-3 is required for a presynaptic form of LTP in the cerebellum. Simsek-Duran F, Linden DJ, Lonart G. Nat Neurosci. 2004 7:1296-8. PMID: 15543142
• Phosphorylation of RIM1alpha by PKA triggers presynaptic long-term potentiation at cerebellar parallel fiber synapses. Lonart G, Schoch S, Kaeser PS, Larkin CJ, Südhof TC, Linden DJ. Cell. 2003 115:49-60. PMID: 14532002
• RIM1: an edge for presynaptic plasticity. Lonart G. Trends Neurosci. 2002 25:329-32. PMID: 12079752

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