UCLA Neuroscience Program Ph.D. Admissions Neuroscience Faculty UCLA and Beyond  



Kelsey Martin
Cell Biology of Learning-related Synaptic Plasticity

Email Address:  kcmartin@mednet.ucla.edu

Work Address:
615 Charles E. Young Dr. S
615 Charles E. Young Dr. S.
Phone Numbers:
(310) 794-9502 Laboratory
(310)794-9507 Office

Selected Publications:

Delgado Jary Y, Coba Marcelo, Anderson Christopher N G, Thompson Kimberly R, Gray Erin E, Heusner Carrie L, Martin Kelsey C, Grant Seth G N, O'Dell Thomas J NMDA receptor activation dephosphorylates AMPA receptor glutamate receptor 1 subunits at threonine 840.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2007; 27(48): 13210-21.
Poon Michael M, Choi Sang-Hyun, Jamieson Christina A M, Geschwind Daniel H, Martin Kelsey C Identification of process-localized mRNAs from cultured rodent hippocampal neurons.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2006; 26(51): 13390-9.
Otis Klara Olofsdotter, Thompson Kimberly R, Martin Kelsey C Importin-mediated nuclear transport in neurons.. Current opinion in neurobiology. 2006; 16(3): 329-35.
Zhao Yali, Leal Karina, Abi-Farah Carole, Martin Kelsey C, Sossin Wayne S, Klein Marc Isoform specificity of PKC translocation in living Aplysia sensory neurons and a role for Ca2+-dependent PKC APL I in the induction of intermediate-term facilitation.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2006; 26(34): 8847-56.
Martin Kelsey C, Zukin R Suzanne RNA trafficking and local protein synthesis in dendrites: an overview.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2006; 26(27): 7131-4.
Lyles, V., Zhao, Y. and Martin, K.C. Synapse formation and mRNA localization in Aplysia sensory-motor neurons. Neuron 2006; 49: 349-356.
Ormond, J Hislop, J Zhao, Y Webb, N Vaillaincourt, F Dyer, JR Ferraro, G Barker, P Martin, KC Sossin, WS ApTrkl, a Trk-like receptor, mediates serotonin- dependent ERK activation and long-term facilitation in Aplysia sensory neurons.. Neuron. . 2004; 44(4): 715-28.
Martin, KC Local protein synthesis during axon guidance and synaptic plasticity.. Current opinion in neurobiology. . 2004; 14(3): 305-10.
Thompson, KR Otis, KO Chen, DY Zhao, Y O'Dell, TJ Martin, KC Synapse to nucleus signaling during long-term synaptic plasticity; a role for the classical active nuclear import pathway.. Neuron. . 2004; 44(6): 997-1009.
Martin, K.C. and Sun, Y.I To Learn Better, Keep Your HAT On. Neuron 2004; 42: 879-881.
Moccia, R Chen, D Lyles, V Kapuya, E E, Y Kalachikov, S Spahn, CM Frank, J Kandel, ER Barad, M Martin, KC An unbiased cDNA library prepared from isolated Aplysia sensory neuron processes is enriched for cytoskeletal and translational mRNAs.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. . 2003; 23(28): 9409-17.
Zhao, Y Hegde, AN Martin, KC The ubiquitin proteasome system functions as an inhibitory constraint on synaptic strengthening.. Current biology : CB. . 2003; 13(11): 887-98.
Martin, K.C., and Kosik, K.S Synaptic Tagging—Who's it?. Nature Neurosci. Rev 2002; 10: 813-820.
Martin, KC Synaptic tagging during synapse-specific long-term facilitation of Aplysia sensory-motor neurons.. Neurobiology of learning and memory. . 2002; 78(3): 489-97.
Patterson, S.L., Pittenger, C., Morozov, A., Martin, K.C., Scanlin, H., Drake, C., and Kandel, E.R A critical component of cAMP- mediated, long-lasting synaptic potentiation requires activation of TrkB receptors and nuclear translocation of activated MAPK. Neuron 2001; 32: 123-140.
Huang, YY Martin, KC Kandel, ER Both protein kinase A and mitogen-activated protein kinase are required in the amygdala for the macromolecular synthesis-dependent late phase of long-term potentiation.. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. . 2000; 20(17): 6317-25.
Martin, KC Barad, M Kandel, ER Local protein synthesis and its role in synapse-specific plasticity.. Current opinion in neurobiology. . 2000; 10(5): 587-92.
Martin, K.C., Bartsch, D., Bailey, C.H. and Kandel,E.R. Molecular mechanisms underlying learning-related long-lasting synaptic plasticity.. The New Cognitive Neurosciences 2000; 2nd edition: 121-137.
Casadio, A.*, Martin, K.C.*, et al. A novel, transient form of CREB-mediated long-term facilitation that is neuron-wide and can be stabilized at specific synapses by local rapamycin-sensitive protein synthesis.. Cell 1999; 99: 221-237.
Winder, D.G., Martin, K.C., Muzzio, I., Rohrer, D., Chruscinski, A., Kobilka, B. and Kandel, E.R. ERK plays a novel role in the induction of LTP by theta frequency stimulation and its regulation by beta-adrenergic receptors in CA1 pyramidal cells.. Neuron 1999; 24: 715-726.
Martin, KC Michael, D Rose, JC Barad, M Casadio, A Zhu, H Kandel, ER MAP kinase translocates into the nucleus of the presynaptic cell and is required for long-term facilitation in Aplysia.. Neuron. . 1997; 18(6): 899-912.
Martin, KC Casadio, A Zhu, H Yaping, E Rose, JC Chen, M Bailey, CH Kandel, ER Synapse-specific, long-term facilitation of aplysia sensory to motor synapses: a function for local protein synthesis in memory storage.. Cell. . 1997; 91(7): 927-38.
Martin, KC Kandel, ER Cell adhesion molecules, CREB, and the formation of new synaptic connections.. Neuron. . 1996; 17(4): 567-70.
Skehel, PA Martin, KC Kandel, ER Bartsch, D A VAMP-binding protein from Aplysia required for neurotransmitter release.. Science. . 1995; 269(5230): 1580-3.
Martin, KC Hu, Y Armitage, BA Siegelbaum, SA Kandel, ER Kaang, BK Evidence for synaptotagmin as an inhibitory clamp on synaptic vesicle release in Aplysia neurons.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. . 1995; 92(24): 11307-11.
Martin, K Helenius, A Nuclear transport of influenza virus ribonucleoproteins: the viral matrix protein (M1) promotes export and inhibits import.. Cell. . 1991; 67(1): 117-30.
Martin, K Helenius, A Transport of incoming influenza virus nucleocapsids into the nucleus.. Journal of virology. . 1991; 65(1): 232-44.
Research Interest:

Synaptic plasticity, the modification of connections in the brain by experience, is the best correlate of learning and memory in invertebrate and vertebrate animals. Long-lasting forms of synaptic plasticity have been shown to require gene expression. This means that signals must be transported from the synapse, where they are generated, to the nucleus, where they are converted into changes in gene expression. The products of gene expression must then be transported from the cell soma to the synapse to produce enduring changes in synaptic strength. My lab is interested in both aspects of communication between the synapse and the nucleus during synaptic plasticity in neurons. We study these questions in cultured Aplysia sensory-motor neurons and in cultured rodent hippocampal neurons using cell biological, molecular biological and electrophysiological techniques. Tranport of molecules from the synapse to the nucleus of neurons is particularly challenging because synapses are often very far from the cell body. We are focusing on the role of the active nuclear import pathway in mediating this transport. We find that the importin nuclear transport factors are present in distal synapses, and that distinct stimuli trigger the nuclear translocation of distinct importin alpha isoforms. We are now interested in understanding how synaptic stimulation triggers their nuclear import, in understanding the pathways whereby the importin-cargo complex travels from synapse to nucleus, and in identifying some of the cargoes themselves. Since each neuron has a single nucleus but can form thousands of synaptic connections, the requirement for transcription during synaptic plasticity raises the question of how the products of gene expression can be targeted to alter synaptic strength at select synapses made by a given neuron. We have found that one important mechanism whereby long-lasting, transcription-dependent plasticity can occur in a synapse-specific manner involves the translation of synaptically localized mRNAs. Another mechanism involves local, regulated degradation of proteins via the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. We are using a variety of molecular, cell biological and pharmacological approaches to identify dendritically localized mRNAs, to study the regulated translation of these mRNAs, and to study the role of local protein degradation during synaptic plasticity.