Wayne Steven Sossin, PhD
Professor,聽Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology
Wayne Sossin is interested in the biochemical changes that occur in the brain during learning and memory. Of particular interest is the identification of molecular memory traces that underlie behavioural memory. Dr. Sossin's laboratory examines this problem in the simple nervous system of Aplysia, where behavioural memory is encoded by changes in the synaptic strength of identified neurons. In this system, one can visualize memory using modern imaging techniques and electrophysiology, and thus investigate the underlying molecular basis of memory. His laboratory is investigating several candidates for the molecular trace, including the activation of persistent kinases and the regulated translation of new proteins.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Weatherill, D, Dyer JR and Sossin WS. (2010) Ribosomal protein S6 kinase is a critical downstream effector of the target of rapamycin complex 1 for long-term facilitation in Aplysia J. Biol. Chem. 285: 12255-12567
Wang DO, Kim S, Zhao Y, Hwang H, Mioru S, Sossin WS and Martin KC (2009). Synapse- and stimulus-specific local translation during long-term neuronal plasticity Science 324:1536-40
Abi-Farah C, Weatherill DW, Tyler, WJ and Sossin WS. (2009) PKC differentially translocates during spaced and massed training in Aplysia. J. Neurosci. 29:10281-6.
Bougie JK, Lim T, Abi Farah C, Manjunath V, Nagakura I, Ferraro GB and Sossin WS (2009) The Atypical Protein Kinase C in Aplysia can form a PKM by cleavage. J. Neurochem 109:1129-1143
Costa-Mattioli M, Sossin WS, Klann E, Sonenberg N. (2009) Translational control of long-lasting synaptic plasticity and memory Neuron 15:10-26
Sossin WS (2008) Defining memories by their distinct molecular traces. Trends Neurosci. 31:170-175.