Chao Tan

This paper engineers proteins to restore and enhance neurotransmitter release by reconstituting active zone functions in neurons.

The paper investigates whether Munc13 supports vesicle fusogenicity independently of active zone scaffolds and synaptic vesicle docking.

The paper investigates active zone functions by knocking out RIM+ELKS and reconstituting key processes, showing that docking and fusion competence are separable and scaffolding is not required for release.

The paper shows that firing rate homeostasis in cultured mouse neurons occurs without activity-regulated transcription, challenging the hypothesis that transcription is required for this process.