대학원생명과학과

Neurons interact with each other via specialized molecular machines such as chemical synapses and electrical synapses. Chemical synapses use neurotransmitters such as glutamate and GABA to transmit signals. Their synaptic cleft is about 20~40 nm, and the signal transmission speed is 0.5~4 ms. Electrical synapses are electrically connected between two neighboring cells and pass directly electric current in both directions, so they interact with each other. The synaptic gap is about 3.5 nm, and the signal transmission speed is 0.2 ms. In addition to chemical and electrical synapses, neurons communicate with each other through the ephaptic transmission. It has been identified the first ephaptic transmission in the cortex in 2011. Ephaptic transmission is a signaling mechanism in which electrical changes in the extracellular region affect adjacent cells. Signal transmission speed is as fast as 0.5 ms. However, the research of ephaptic transmission, a new signaling mechanism between neurons, has not been extensively studied, yet. We are interested in various studies on the physiological and pathological role of ephaptic transmission

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a grade IV glioma and the most aggressive and deadliest of primary brain cancers; it arises from astrocytes. The overall survival rate of GBM patients is 39.7% at 1 year and 5.5% at 5 years. The highly invasive behavior of GBM cells makes it impossible to completely remove the tumor by surgical intervention, causing treatments to be less effective. Therefore, studying the cellular mechanism of migration and invasion of GBM is important for providing possible therapeutic interventions. We have demonstrated that intracellular Ca2+ signaling contribute to the motility and invasion of GBM. We are going to develop therapeutic interventions targeting ECM and Ca2+ signaling and aim at blocking invasion