February 3, 2023 – Jenny GUNERSEY (University of Melbourne, Australia) – Excitatory synapse regulators and their potential as therapeutic targets in chronic conditions

In this presentation, I will describe our recent work on a family of proteins with important roles in excitatory synapse development and maintenance. These proteins have been identified as substrates of the enzyme BACE1, a potential therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s disease, and we have been investigating the consequences of chronic BACE inhibition in mice. This work has also revealed roles for these proteins in pathological synapse strengthening in psychostimulant abuse and neuropathic pain models and highlighted potential therapeutic approaches.