Mr Steven Houghton is a postgraduate research student within Biological Sciences, University of Southampton.
My Project aims to characterise a primate-specific non-canonical NMDA receptor subunit. A better understanding of this second isoform may inform future research on NMDARs and their role in health and disease.
2015-2019: Integrated Masters of Biochemistry, University of Southampton, UK.
During my master’s I used whole-cell electrophysiology to investigate whether the primate-specific non-canonical NMDA receptor subunit, GluN2AS successfully expresses on the cell surface and functions as an NMDA receptor. This was performed in the human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cell heterologous expression system.
Currently during the early stages of my PhD I intend to investigate potential alternative splicing mechanisms responsible for this isoform being found in humans and non-human primates but not in rodents such as mice.
Research project: Analysing the functional significance of a primate-specific non-canonical glutamate receptor subunit.
Supervisor:
Funding Agency: The South Coast Biosciences (SoCoBio) Doctoral Training Partnership