The developing nervous system is a complex yet organized system of neurons, glial support
cells, and extracellular matrix that arranges into an elegant, highly structured network. The …

Simple Summary Considering the high mortality rate and the increasing spread of brain
tumors both in adulthood and in childhood, we explore the role and involvement of fibroblast …

Human natural killer (NK) cells are defined as CD56+ CD3−. Despite its ubiquitous
expression on human NK cells the role of CD56 (NCAM) in human NK cell cytotoxic function …

Palmitoylation, the modification of proteins with the lipid palmitate, is a key regulator of
protein targeting and trafficking. However, knowledge of the roles of specific palmitoyl …

Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) mediate interactions of neurons with the extracellular
environment by forming adhesive bonds with CAMs on adjacent membranes or via binding …

The efficient targeting of ionotropic receptors to postsynaptic sites is essential for the function
of chemical excitatory and inhibitory synapses, constituting the majority of synapses in the …

Cell adhesion molecule close homolog of L1 (CHL1) and the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2)
are associated with psychiatric and mental disorders. We here show that DRD2 interacts …

The visual photopigment protein rhodopsin (Rh) is a typical G protein-coupled receptor
(GPCR) that initiates the phototransduction cascade in retinal disk membrane of rod …

Purkinje cells (PCs) are large neurons in the cerebellar cortex with elaborate dendrites that
receive inputs into the cerebellum. Being the only output of the cerebellar cortex, PCs project …

This dissertation details my Ph. D. work in Dr. Sreeganga Chandra's laboratory at Yale
University studying molecular interactions of synaptic proteins in neurodegenerative …