Jeff Lichtman, MD, PhD

Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology
E-mail: jlichtman@mcb.harvard.edu
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Harvard University
7 Divinity Ave, Room 155
Cambridge MA, 02138

Please visit our web site at: http://www.mcb.harvard.edu/Faculty/Lichtman.html

Cortical neurons in a fixed, 100 um-thick brain slice from a transgenic mouse with sparse neuronal GFP expression. Left: Mosaic of 81 high-resolution image stacks acquired on a 2-photon laser-scanning microscope, part of a larger data set spanning several consecutive brain slices. Right: Individual stack from this data set, containing a GFP-expressing cortical layer 2/3 pyramidal neuron. Its dendritic (cyan) and axonal (magenta) compartments were identified and traced within the 3D data containing many other neuronal structures, some of which appear to make contact with the highlighted cell. Images: Miguel Vaz Afonso.

Research at the Lichtman lab focuses on the mechanisms underlying synaptic competition between neurons that innervate the same target cell. Such competitive interactions are responsible for sharpening the patterns of neural connections during development and may also be important in learning and memory formation. We study synaptic competition by visualizing synaptic rearrangements directly in living animals using modern optical imaging techniques. We have concentrated on neuromuscular junctions in a very accessible neck muscle in mice where new transgenic animals and other labeling strategies allow individual nerve terminals and postsynaptic specializations to be monitored over hours or months. In addition, we have developed several new methods to improve our ability to resolve synaptic structure, in both the peripheral and the central nervous system.