O'Brien Lab

The broad goal of the O’Brien lab is to understand the molecular mechanisms that control network adaptation in the retina, with a focus on the mechanisms that control electrical synapse plasticity. We study this at a number of levels, from the functional regulation of the channels themselves, through signaling mechanisms that control their function, and transcriptional changes that sculpt these signaling pathways. Among retinal neurons, we have focused largely on photoreceptor and amacrine cell electrical synaptic plasticity in the contexts of light adaptation and time of day. We use zebrafish and mammalian model systems as well as expression systems to study these mechanisms. The lab also studies the functional organization of electrical synapses throughout the central nervous system and the evolutionary relationships of connexins that form them.