Professor Patricia Salinas

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Personal Profile

Name: Patricia Salinas Email: p.salinas@ucl.ac.uk
Title: Professor Tel: 020 7679 2445
Department: Cell & Developmental Biology Fax:
Position: Professor of Cellular Neurobiology Address: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Biology (LMCB), London, WC1E 6BT
Research Domain: Basic Life Sciences, Neuroscience Web Page: Personal Web Page

Profile

Research Description

My laboratory has been studying how neuronal networks are generated during development and the mechanisms involved in the complex pattern of axon guidance, dendritic arborization and synapse formation in the vertebrate nervous system. We are particularly interested in understanding the role and the mechanisms of action of Wnt proteins in the terminal remodelling of axons during the initial stages of synaptic contact and in the mechanisms by which Wnts proteins stimulate synaptic assembly. My lab has discovered that Wnt signalling modulates neuronal connectivity by regulating axon behaviour, dendrite morphogenesis and central synaptogenesis. Further work is aimed at elucidating how Wnt proteins regulate the axonal cytoskeleton in developing neurons to convert actively growing growth cones into synaptic boutons and how Wnts stimulate the assembly and maintenance of synapses. Other projects in the lab include the role of Wnt signalling in neurotransmitter release and circuit modulation in the adult brain..

Research Activities

NMDA receptors in the central nervous system

Role of cell signalling in the assembly and function of synaptic connections in the vertebrate nervous system

Education Description

UCL Collaborators

Dr Alasdair Gibb

External Collaborators

Publications

    2012

    • Purro SA, Dickins EM, Salinas PC (2012). The secreted Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-1 is required for amyloid β-mediated synaptic loss.. J Neurosci, 32(10), 3492 - 3498. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4562-11.2012

    2011

    • Ciani L, Boyle K, Dickins E, Sahores M, Anane D, Lopes DM, Gibb A, SALINAS PC (2011). Wnt7a signaling promotes dendritic spine growth and synaptic strength through Ca2+/Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA, 108(26), 10732 - 10737.

    2010

    • Sahores M, Gibb AJ, Salinas P (2010). Frizzled-5, a receptor for the synaptic organizer Wnt7a, regulates activity-mediated synaptogenesis.. Development, 137(13), 2215 - 2225.

    2008

    • Henriquez JP, Webb A, Bence M, Bildsoe H, Sahores M, Hughes SM, Salinas PC (2008). Wnt signaling promotes AChR aggregation at the neuromuscular synapse in collaboration with agrin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(48), 11812 - 11817. doi:10.1073/pnas.0806300105
    • Purro SA, Ciani L, Hoyos-Flight M, Stamatakou , E S, E S, P C (2008). Wnt regulates axon behavior through changes in microtubule growth directionality: a new role for adenomatous polyposis coli.. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(34), 8644 - 8654. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2320-08.2008