During her PhD studies, Emily Carlsen Pheasant investigated the NMDA receptor, a key protein in the brain. NMDA receptors are essential for learning and memory due to their role in forming and maintaining neuronal connections known as synapses. Emily Carlsen Pheasant explored the functions of a specific region of these receptors known as the flexible “tails”, seeking to uncover why some of these tails are incredibly long. She discovered that small features distributed throughout one of the tails enables it to cluster together with other proteins, forming concentrated “droplets”, like oil droplets in water, and that this clustering affects the NMDA receptor’s targeting to the synapse. Although the tails are also known to function as interaction hubs, these new findings reveal that their length is not only for show, but has a functional purpose, highlighting the importance of studying such flexible tails in their entirety.

The PhD study was completed at the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Tuesday, 10^th of December 2024 at 13:00
Place: Building 1871, room 120, Nucleus Auditorium, Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Aarhus University, Universitetsbyen 81, 8000 Aarhus C
Title of PhD thesis: Dissecting the role of the NMDA receptor’s disordered C-terminal tails in receptor trafficking and synaptic plasticity
Contact information: Emily Carlsen Pheasant, E-mail: emily_pheasant@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 61851391
Members of the assessment committee:
Associate Professor René Frank, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, England
Associate Professor Kenneth Lindegaard Madsen, Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Professor Ditlev E. Brodersen (chair), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor:
Associate Professor Magnus Kjærgaard, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Associate Professor Sadegh Nabavi, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defence is public.

The PhD thesis is available for reading at the Graduate School of Natural Sciences/GSNS, Ny Munkegade 120, building 1521, 8000 Aarhus C