The University of Manitoba campuses are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininew, Anisininew, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. More
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, R3T 2N2
Max Rady College of Medicine
Physiology and Pathophysiology
University of Manitoba
Room SR422 – Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine
710 William Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 0Z3
Phone: 204-318-2564
tabrez.siddiqui@umanitoba.ca
Synapse development requires adhesion of appropriate axons and dendrites, accompanied by local recruitment of presynaptic vesicle release machinery in axons and apposing neurotransmitter receptor signal transduction machinery in dendrites.
These processes are coordinated by a class of trans-synaptic adhesion proteins known as synapse organizers.
Synapse organizing proteins coordinate the broad spectrum of processes constituting synapse development, including formation and maintenance of synapses, as well as mediating experience-dependent changes in synaptic properties, a phenomenon known as synaptic plasticity.
Numerous mutations or copy number variations in genes encoding synapse organizers disrupt synaptic function and increase the risk for neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia.
The goals of the Siddiqui research program are:
The Siddiqui lab research program will generate fundamental knowledge of how neuronal circuits form and function and will open untapped lines of inquiry with strong potential to yield novel small molecule therapeutics targeting synapse organizers.
Dr. Tabrez Siddiqui trained as a biophysicist and biochemist during his graduate studies at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Goettingen, Germany. For postdoctoral work at the University of British Columbia, he worked on mechanisms of neuronal synapse development. His postdoctoral work has contributed immensely to understanding how glutamatergic synapses form and function in the brain. In 2014, Dr. Siddiqui joined the University of Manitoba where he is appointed in the department of physiology and pathophysiology. The Siddiqui lab is located at the Klyesen Institute for Advanced Medicine, where he is a principal investigator in the Neuroscience Research Program. The Siddiqui lab focuses on the roles of synaptic adhesion and scaffolding molecules in the development, maintenance and plasticity of synapses and how these processes can be regulated in health and disease. Dr. Siddiqui has nurtured a multifaceted research program encompassing the molecular, systems, and behavioural branches of neuroscience. The Siddiqui lab has developed diverse approaches to address their questions; protein chemistry, glycobiology, cellular assays, molecular genetics, viral methods to manipulate neuronal circuits, slice electrophysiology, and animal behaviour.
Physiology and Pathophysiology
432 Basic Medical Sciences Building
745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada
