Paul Young

Paul Young received his undergraduate degree in Biotechnology at National University of Ireland, Galway in 1996. He did his thesis work at European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg, Germany. There he worked with Prof. Mathias Gautel characterizing proteins that are involved in muscle contraction. He received his PhD for this work from NUI, Galway in 2000. For his postdoctoral work he switched to the field of Neuroscience and worked at Duke University in North Carolina with Prof. Guoping Feng funded by a Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. At Duke he studied the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation in the nervous system. He also developed a novel technique to genetically manipulate and monitor neurons in transgenic mice. He is currently a Senior Lecturer and Principal Investigator in the School of Biochemistry Cell Biology at University College Cork, Ireland.

Research Overview Our research focuses on the cell and molecular biology of neuronal and cancer cells as well as the area of synthetic biology. Ongoing strands of research aim to investigate: 1. The mechanisms underlying neural circuit formation and function through the development of novel techniques to label and manipulate neurons in transgenic mice. 2. The roles of the alpha-actinin family of actin-crosslinking proteins at sysnapses and in cell biological processes relevant to cancer such as cell migration. 3. The physiological functions of the LNX family of proteins in the nervous system and their putative involvement in colorectal and brain cancer. 4. Employ protein engineering to develop novel biomaterials, biosensors and metabolic pathways in the context of synthetic biology. The methodologies that we employ include: mouse molecular genetics, gene assembly, directed evolution, confocal microscopy, protein:protein interaction technologies, biochemical asssays, immunohistochemistry and mouse behavioural assays. Current Research Projects Labeling and manipulating neurons to study synaptic connectivity in the nervous system Defects in neuronal morphology and synaptic connectivity have been implicated as causative factors in Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and mental retardation. To better understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the establishment and modulation of synaptic connectivity we developed a method termed single-neuron labeling with inducible cre-mediated knockout (SLICK), for genetic manipulation of single fluorescently labeled neurons in vivo (1,2). SLICK reveals the detailed morphology and synaptic connections of genetically manipulated cells within a predominantly wild-type background, providing unprecedented opportunities to assess cell autonomous functions of g

I currently teach and/or coordinate the following modules:Introductory Cell Biology and Biomembranes (3rd year Biochemistry; module BC3003).Neuroscience (2nd year Medicine; module FM2101).Neuroscience (2nd year Graduate Entry Medicine; module GM2001).Bone Metabolism and Renal Mechanisms of Homeostasis (2nd year Medicine; module FM2102).Literature review module (3rd year Biochemistry; module BC3012)Biotechnology (4th year Biochemistry: module BC4017)An outline of these courses and all courses taught by staff in the Department of Biochemistry are available at the UCC Book of Modules.