![Brain Circuitry & Psychiatric Illness]()
The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded Anna Francesconi, Ph.D., $2.1 million over five years. She will study how the abnormal activity of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) contributes to neuropsychiatric conditions. mGluRs help form and maintain brain circuits and are important in learning and memory. Impaired activity of these receptors is implicated in disorders such as autism, Fragile X syndrome and schizophrenia. Previous laboratory studies indicated that mGluRs associate with a multiprotein complex through which they appear to regulate autophagy —the cellular process that degrades and recycles proteins. Dr. Francesconi will use this grant to identify the molecular mechanisms by which mGluRs influence autophagy in neurons and explore whether abnormal mGluRs’ activity leads to impaired autophagy in an animal model of Fragile X syndrome. Results from this study should help reveal underlying pathology of neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Francesconi is assistant professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience. (1R01MH108614-01A1)
Posted on: Thursday, September 22, 2016