Our overarching research interest in the NeuroBM Lab is to understand how the synaptic circuitry is rewired in response to environmental and metabolic demands as well as in the context of disease conditions such as neurological, neuropsychiatric or neurodegenerative diseases. We are planning to achieve this by studies both at the cellular and circuit level using molecular biology and electrophysiology as well as using unbiased top-down genomic approaches such as single cell sequencing.
Some of the ongoing projects in the lab:
1) Characterization of feeding-status and BDNF-dependent molecular and structural changes in inhibitory neurotransmission in the VMH.
2) Characterizing the role of GABA transporters in regulating homeostatic inhibitory plasticity and energy balance control in the VMH.
3) Computational analysis of GABA transporters and identification of novel therapeutic targets.
Funding: TUBITAK 2232 International Fellowship for Outstanding Researchers Programme, Project No: 121C128 “Analysis of Adaptive Mechanisms in Inhibitory Neurocircuitry in the Ventromedial Hypothalamus Underlying Metabolic Regulation.” (Principal Investigator: Ongoing), Estimated budget: 2.700.000TL., 2022-2025.
Research interests:
Synaptic plasticity, GABAA receptors, neuropharmacology, metabolic adaptation, single cell genomics, molecular mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders, mitochondria, energy balance regulation, circadian rhythms