Neuromodulator signaling in neural circuits
The Koelle lab studies how neurotransmitters and neuropeptides signal through G protein coupled receptors to alter the functions of neural circuits. One project uses mass spectrometry and biochemistry to study target proteins through which the most abundant G protein of the brain, G(alpha)o, signals to inhibit neural function. Opioids and many other chemical signals in the brain act through this G protein. A second project analyzes how serotonin and other neuromodulators act within a model neural circuit in C. elegans. We use optogenetics, calcium imaging, and other tools to manipulate signaling within this circuit and measure the effects on circuit activity with the goal understanding, for the first time in any neural circuit in any organism, how the complete set of signals within a neural circuit generate its dynamic pattern of activity.
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Biography
Michael Koelle received Bachelors degrees in Biology and Math from the University of Washington, a PhD in biochemistry from Stanford, did postdoctoral training at MIT, became a faculty member at Yale in 1996. and rose through the ranks to become a Full Professor. In addition to running his research lab he teaches undergraduate biochemistry at Yale College. His wife Lore is also a scientist, and Michael, Lore, and both their children are all amateur classical musicians.