Monday 17th May 2010, 5.00pm Building 62, Lecture Theatre 5 School of Biological Sciences External Seminar Series Professor Alan Morgan, University of Liverpool “Role of presynaptic proteins in exocytosis and neurodegeneration in C. elegans ” Monday 17th May 2010, 5.00pm Building 62, Lecture Theatre 5 Alan Morgan has a long standing interest in the molecular mechanism of neurotransmitter release. He has made particular contributions to understanding the functional basis of the molecules that control vesicle mediated exocytosis. By establishing tractable assays for function, he has additionally allowed important structure function studies and the identification of phosphorylation events that modulate function. He has a long standing interest in chaperone function in vesicle transport and age related phenomenon. These divergent interests may be converging as cysteine string protein the focus of his talk is modulates synaptic vesicle chaperone function and is a key determinant of neurodegeneration. Alan will describe his labs current studies aimed at addressing this issue. Whether describing his own results or discussing the preferred interpretation of others he provides a rounded view of current understanding. It should prove relevant to undergraduates preparing for  Systems Neuroscience, molecular basis of disease and neurodegenerative disease. It will be our last seminar of the session before the exams start so we hope you can all join us. Refreshments available after the seminar