# Glutamatergic synapse formation and function

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2020 · $387,500

## Abstract

The glutamatergic synapses are the main excitatory synapses in the brain. Abnormal synapse formation
and plasticity are responsible for numerous diseases, such as intellectual disability, autism, neuropsychiatric
and degenerative disorders. The signaling mechanisms controlling their assembly and plasticity have not been
fully understood. Our preliminary studies lead to the surprising finding that components of the highly conserved
cell polarity signaling pathways are important regulators. We found that components of both planar cell polarity
(PCP) and apical-basal polarity (A-BP) pathways are localized in developing excitatory synapses and interact
with multiple key presynaptic and postsynaptic proteins. In this proposal, we propose to test several hypotheses
on how these key cell polarity components regulate glutamatergic synapse formation and plasticity.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9850632
- **Project number:** 5R01MH116667-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** YIMIN ZOU
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $387,500
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-02-15 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9850632

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9850632, Glutamatergic synapse formation and function (5R01MH116667-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9850632. Licensed CC0.

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