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ksk at ncbs dot res dot in
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Cellular Organisation and Signalling | |
K . S. K R I S H N A N |
HOME | RESEARCH I LAB MEMBERS I PUBLICATIONS | |
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Genetic and Cell Biological studies will help reveal the importance, and temporal sequence of bio-chemically defined molecular interactions in the synaptic vesicle cycle. The research in my group addresses cellular and molecular mechanisms of synaptic release and vesicle recycling primarily by genetic methods. Conditional mutants and in particular those that display a temperature sensitive behavior have afforded us a unique opportunity of studying in the same animal; behavior, physiology in reduced preparations and processes in single cells at high resolution. Our work has led to a large collection of temperature sensitive mutants. Our studies have implicated a role for ND Kinase in vesicle recycling. We have developed novel optical assays suited for study of synaptic vesicle recycling in Drosophila and very early on these studies helped differentiate early calcium requiring steps from a late Dynamin requiring step. Our efforts to differentially label sub-synaptic regions led to the discovery of endocytic 'hot spots' which have recently become a major focus of research in vesicle recycling. In the past few years we have developed primary cell cultures from larvae of defined mutant combinations and this has allowed us to study endocytosis and trafficking at high resolution afforded by modern optical tools. Another interest of my group is genetic studies of anesthetic mechanisms. Our studies have demonstrated the doubtful value of the long standing Unitary Target hypothesis in anesthesia and indicated a focus for anesthesia in the cephalic ganglion of the brain. We have also begun a major initiative to identify new neuro-active compounds from venoms of predatory cone snails abundant in the south east coast of India. Selected publications:
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