Project Summary

Paula Ulery, M.S., Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2006) of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, plans to study the role of the gene syntaxin-1 (stx-1) in schizophrenia. Stx-1 plays a role in the release of neurotransmitters from synapses, a vital process in the communication between nerve cells, and has been implicated in schizophrenia. However, how stx-1 performs its function and how its activity is regulated remain unclear. Phosphorylation (the addition of a phosphate group to a molecule) is a universal regulator of protein function. The goal of the proposed research is to learn if stx-1 function is regulated by phosphorylation, and if so, how.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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