Remarkable progress has been made towards understanding of the molecular control of neurotransmitter release from presynaptic axon terminals and the responses of the postsynaptic neuron by neurotransmitters. We know that synaptic activity is required for learning and memory but the structural basis of a memory (an engram) remains unknown. Anton Maximov has made major contributions to understanding the molecular control of synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory. Here he talks about his research career journey which began in St. Petersburg Russia followed by postdoc training in Dallas Texas and then to the Scripps Research Institute where he is currently a professor and chair of the Neuroscience Department. He and his team and collaborators recently published an elegant technologically-demanding study in Science in which nanoscale resolution ultrastructural analyses was combined with molecular tagging of neurons encoding a memory revealing an increase in synaptic complexity with intriguing presynaptic structural remodeling.

LINKS

Anton Maximov Lab page: https://www.maximovlab.org/

Science article

https://www-science-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.ado8316

Structural diversity of chemical synapses:

https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2211-1247%2821%2900267-9

Experience dependent neuron remodeling

https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0896-6273%2814%2900800-9