Michał Wilczkowski awarded a National Science Centre (NCN) PRELUDIUM 20 grant

Michał Wilczkowski has been awarded a grant from the National Science Centre (NCN) PRELUDIUM 20 for a project entitled "Investigating the role of the focal adhesion kinase and its related signaling pathways in glucocorticoid- and stress-induced morphological changes of neurons".

Cortical and hippocampal neurons have been shown critically involved in several neuropsychiatric disorders. At the same time, they appear particularly sensitive to chronic stress effects and dendritic spines plasticity. Chronic stress and one of its characteristic features – sustainably elevated corticosterone level decrease dendritic spines density in both the cortex and hippocampus. Despite significant advances, little is known about mechanisms involved in corticosterone/stress-evoked structural and density changes of spines in the cortex and hippocampus. One of the candidate proteins which disturbed activity may contribute to corticosterone/stress-associated morphological alterations of the cortical and hippocampal neurons is focal adhesion kinase (FAK). Thus, in the proposed project, we will characterize the role FAK and its associated molecules play in the corticosterone/stress-mediated structural changes of dendritic spines in cortical and hippocampal neurons.

Cogratulations!