Serrano Lab

My research interest is to understand the signal transduction mechanisms involved when stress significantly alters the morphology of dendritic spines affecting synaptic plasticity, learning and memory.  It is understood that depending on the stress, the effect on memory and learning can be enhanced or impaired.  My lab is specifically interested in how stress can regulate the expression of various synaptically localized proteins that are important for memory, such as protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ). I incorporate various model systems involving inflammation, neurodegenerative disorders, drugs abuse, traumatic brain injury, HIV, and stress.  These models collectively provide brain insults to better understand neural mechanisms associated with memory deficits and remediation by environmental enrichment. We use animal models to assess behavioral parameters on memory and learning.  We use several different molecular and imaging techniques to asses changes in protein expression and spine shape morphology and evaluate synaptic strength using electrophysiology involving long-term potentiation.  My lab has several different projects, which provide a unique perspective on the interaction between several brain regions including the hippocampus, amygdala and frontal cortex as they relate to stress, traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease. 

At Hunter College, I began my current tenure-track faculty position. With a Department of Defense funded grant in hand, I began studying the role of PKMζ in stress-induced memory deficits. The role of stress and its effects on memory are significant yet poorly understood. As I applied my training in hippocampal function to characterize stress-induced changes in behavior, biochemistry and electrophysiological measurements additional projects and techniques were also developed in my lab. Some of the methods that I subsequently began incorporating into my work included spine-morphology analysis, behavioral protocols involving environmental enrichment, and stress-induced behavioral protocols including social defeat stress (in collaboration with Dr. Iñiguez; University of Texas at El Paso) and brain insults including traumatic brain injury (TBI). I have also expanded my research program to examine how stress-induced inflammation influences memory performance in models of drug addiction and neurodegenerative diseases.