News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
... of OSNs were fluorescently labeled, whereas their axons targeted the same cluster of glomeruli. For the OR111 subfamily, each OSN expressed a single OR, but a few OSNs coexpressed OR111 and OR103 subfamily members, and OR1031 was always coexpressed with OR1032/1035. Such dual receptor expression has also ...Neuronal differentiation of human neural stem cell grafts in adult rat spinal cord
...he researchers found that some of these cells grew axons (the long arms of nerve cells) and some were able to form cell to cell contacts (synapses) with motor neurons of the host rats. These results challenge previous assumptions that the spinal cord is unable to support the differentiation of neurons from...Targeting tau: Inflammation study suggests new approach for fighting Alzheimer's
...s. This has lethal consequences because nerve-cell axons and dendrites are critically dependent on this normal transportation network. The misfolded tau proteins aggregate and form sheets called fibrils that accumulate in different parts of the brain. The resulting impaired axonal transport of proteins......ctrin, resulting in breakage of their nerve cells' axons ? the long, wire-like extensions that connect nerv...g of the nervous system depends on these wire-like axons between nerve cells." Jorgensen says the mutant gene also may be involved in other neurodegenerati...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...ing increased appreciation for their importance in axons and nerve terminals. In this week's Journal, Alle and Geiger investigated the role of presynaptic GABA A receptors using direct recording from mossy fiber boutons (MFBs) in rat hippocampal slices. Based on the single-channel conductance of currents ...Motor protein plays key role in connecting neurons
...cellular projections. "During early development, axons need to grow, they need to find a target, they need to decide how long to grow, which direction to grow. Eventually they will form a synapse," says Dr. Xiong, who is dissecting how neurons first connect with the goal of helping restore communication ...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...mitochondria clustered in cell bodies and proximal axons of these neurons. Time-lapse fluorescence imaging revealed disrupted mitochondrial trafficking, although ATP production and mitochondrial oxidative function remained intact. Likewise, oxidative activity was not disrupted in a muscle biopsy specimen f...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...reatment with curare. All animals had an excess of axons projecting to target muscles, but motoneurons were smaller, and many axons failed to myelinate or form functional synapses. The phenotypes of the three animal models also diff...Forsyth scientists discover early key to regeneration
...egeneration cannot proceed and the growth of nerve axons becomes abnormal. Later inhibition of apoptosis has no effect, suggesting that the programmed death of a specific cellular component is a very early step in the regeneration program. One possible model is that tissues normally contain a population of...Protein protects against nerve degeneration
...ceptors in the eye develop normally. They send out axons (tendril extension of the nerve that grow into the brain) and make synapses (the functional connection between a nerve axon and the target cell)," said Bellen. However, late in the development of the eye, the insects in the pupal stage begin to sens...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...es associated with myelin sheaths can keep damaged axons from regenerating. But studies examining one of these myelin-associated inhibitors, Nogo-A protein and its main receptor NgR1, have had surprisingly mixed results when assessed in knock-out mice. To clear up some of the confusion, Cafferty and Strit...Movies reveal that the process of insulating nerves is surprisingly dynamic
...s. These cells must be distributed uniformly along axons the long, wire-like extensions from neurons that ...scopic pieces of electrician's tape, can cover the axons completely and uniformly. The wrapping process takes place near the end of fetal development and act...In young rats, researchers find a reaction to spinal cord injury that speeds recovery
...he spinal cord like a two-lane road. Half of these axons connect the brain to distant muscles, and the othe...believe that in a partial injury, surviving nearby axons that serve the same general body area and function can "sprout" new connections to those injured ner...Major breakthrough in the mechanism of myelin formation
.... Just as an electrical wire needs insulation, our axons require an insulating sheath (myelin) that helps to propagate the electrical signal and maximize the efficiency and velocity of these signals in our brain and body. It is this property (myelination) that facilitates the long-distance communication in...Most important actors in the growth process of neurons identified
...ive roles. Their research shows that the growth of axons and the activity of neurons are completely indepen...rons have a number of long thin offshoots - called axons - that conduct electrical impulses. These primary elements of information transfer in the nervous sy...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...A activity, the double mutants had more myelinated axons and surviving motoneurons in the spinal cord and cranial nuclei. ...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...ntiating into mature cells capable of wrapping CNS axons in sheet-like membranous extensions. The membrane layers are the compacted by the exclusion of cytoplasm to form myelin sheaths. Previous studies suggest that the Rho GTPases Cdc42 and rac1 regulate oligodendrocyte development. Thurnherr et al. sough...Acorda announces positive Phase 3 Fampridine-SR study in people with multiple sclerosis
...signals to other nerve cells. All but the smallest axons have a special covering of a fatty substance called myelin that acts as insulation to preserve and speed these nerve signals, much like the insulating cover of an electrical cord helps preserve the transmission of electricity. In MS, the myelin be...... Neurotrophic factors can stimulate the growth of axons after spinal cord injury. For example, when geneti...otrophin NT-3 are grafted into the site of injury, axons grow into the lesion. However, these axons rarely exit the graft to innervate the adjoining spinal c......s. Substances able to support the regeneration of axons after injuries could be a highly promising starting point for developing a treatment of patients with spinal cord injuries. These new cyclopeptides could be a step in the right direction....