What are the molecular and cellular steps that govern presynaptic assembly and determine presynaptic function?

Using C. elegans to understand how patient mutations in calcium channels affect their localization and function. A. Secondary structure of UNC-2/CaV2α. Adapted from “Gain-of-function mutations in the UNC-2/CaV2α channel lead to excitation-dominant synaptic transmission in Caenorhabditis elegans” Huang et al., 2019, eLife. B. A novel patient mutation in a highly homologous region confers developmental abnormalities. We are using Crispr/Cas9 to create worm models of this mutation. C. Single molecule localization images of calcium channels (magenta) tightly colocalized with the active zone protein RIMB-1 (green). Using techniques such as these to quantify calcium channel clustering with high precision, as well as behavioral assays to measure synaptic function, allows us to assess the effect of human mutations on calcium channel localization and function.