Dendrites in Biological News

Protein regulates movement of mitochondria in brain cells

... structure that consist of a main cell body and dendrites and axons that project out from the cell core and ... Rempe. "They put out enormous arms of axons and dendrites and they have to keep supplying nutrients and ... which the cell must also push down the axons and dendrites to provide these parts of the cell with energy, ...

UC Davis researchers visualize formation of a new synapse

... formation. "We are the first to observe that neuroligin zips around dendrites (the branched projections of neurons) before synapses form and can ... the team was able to visualize: "Axons of one neuron grow toward the dendrites of neighboring neurons. As they do so, finger-like structures called ...

What makes an axon an axon?

... a dendrite waiting to get out. Hedstrom et al. converted mature axons into dendrites by banishing a protein crucial for neuron development. The results suggest ... from the axon is still uncertain. Injuries and diseases can transform dendrites into axons. The findings raise the possibility that these insults could ...

Scientists discover a molecular scaffold that guides connections between brain cells

... cells, a type of neuron that deploys a bushy array of fibers called dendrites that extend through layers of cerebellar territory. The dendrites gather signals from many other neurons in the cerebellum and send signals ...

Autopilot guides proteins in brain

... may enable finer control over neurons for basic research or for treatment of neurological disorders. Potentially, scientists could target only dendrites or axons in a neuron so as to study its outgoing or incoming impulses. In addition to these potential applications, the study is notable for its ...

Rett Syndrome Research Trust advisor makes significant discovery

... cells in the brain. Glia support and interact with neurons in innumerable ways, from providing the structural underpinnings and guidance of axons and dendrites (the neuronal processes that carry information), to creating protective insulation for axons. These and other glial functions are essential to the ...

Maintaining the brain's wiring in aging and disease

... down, the neuron will never again contribute to learning and memory, because these 'wires' do not re-grow in the human brain." But axons and dendrites are much more than inert fibre-optic wires. They are homes to the world's smallest transport tracks. Every one of our hundred billion nerve cells ...

Rare genetic disorder gives clues to autism, epilepsy, mental retardation

... and TSC2, are inactivated, neurons grow too many axons (the long nerve fibers that transmit signals). Normal neurons grow just one axon and multiple dendrites (short projections that receive input from other neurons). This specification of axons and dendrites, known as polarity, is crucial for proper ...

MIT IDs proteins key to brain function

... that relays information to other cellsand many shorter dendrites, which receive messages from other cells. The interconnection of these axons and dendrites is essential to create a functional neural circuit. In their study, the researchers found that mice without the three Ena/VASP proteins did ...

Brain works more chaotically than previously thought

... by means of little "arms", known as dendrites. dendrites pass on the electrical impulses to the cell body, ... of axons and ancillary cells. There are no dendrites or even synapses here. "So it is not a place ... synapses," Dietrich speculates. "Nerve cells and dendrites are closely packed together here. So the axon ...

Sandia researchers discover way to see how a drug attaches to a cell

... small flat-branched platinum structures - called dendrites - which join together in a network or cage in the ... salt. Little by little, small, flat, platinum dendrites form within the double lipid layer. "The ... is very high," Shelnutt says. "The resulting dendrites are then close enough to join and take the shape ...

Scientists show how thinking can harm brain cells

... impulses pass from neuron to neuron. Injury to dendrites ?characterized by swelling or beading, loss of ... diseases. "We found that disease makes dendrites more vulnerable to excitotoxicity," said Matthew ... article. "We also found that damage to the dendrites may not require abnormal glutamate exposure." ...

How the neuron sprouts its branches

... of the intricate tracery of branches called dendrites that enable them to connect with their neighbors. ... these remote structures we had discovered in dendrites called Golgi outposts might play a role." The ... the Golgi outposts tended to appear in longer dendrites and also that those Golgi in the main cell body ...

RNA splicing occurs in nerve-cell dendrites

... of Medicine have discovered that nerve-cell dendrites have the capacity to splice messenger RNA ... to connect with each other to form a network. dendrites detect the electrical and chemical signals ... successful in showing that splicing can occur in dendrites because they have employed very sensitive ...

Snapin: A protein with therapy potential for autism

... for early intervention with therapeutic drugs. dendrites are the input centers of neurons -- where nerve ... binds to cypin, tubulin is crowded out, so fewer dendrites assemble and more branching occurs. When ... neurons in the lab, the number of primary dendrites growing out of the cell body decreased, but many ...

A first -- Hebrew University scientist observes brain cell development in 'real time'

... was able to develop an experimental model to study development of neural dendrites in vivo. The dendrites are the string-like extensions of the neuron that spread out to reach ...

Long-term changes in experience cause neurons to sprout new long-lasting connections

... spines that indicate robust connections between a neuron's highly branched dendrites and nearby axons. dendrites are the input side of neurons and axons the output side. Spines stipple ...

Nanowire arrays can detect signals along individual neurons

... to detect, stimulate, and inhibit nerve signals along the axons and dendrites of live mammalian neurons. Harvard chemist Charles M. Lieber and ... size similarities between ultra-fine silicon nanowires and the axons and dendrites projecting from nerve cells: Nanowires, like neuronal offshoots, are just ...

Homing pigeons get their bearings from their beaks

... maghemite and magnetite were found in sensory dendrites² of the skin lining the upper beak of homing pigeons. This research project found that these dendrites are arranged in a complex three-dimensional pattern with different spatial orientation designed to analyze the three components of the magnetic field ...

How nerve cells stay in shape

... in Staufen2-deficient nerve cells have significantly fewer actin fibres than normal synapses. The mRNA for actin is normally transported into dendrites and locally translated into protein there. If there is no Staufen2 to function as a transport protein in the nerve cells, a lesser amount of mRNA ...

Tiny RNA molecules fine-tune the brain's synapses

... in Greenberg's lab, done in rats, showed that a microRNA called miR-134 regulates the size of dendritic spines, the protrusions from a neuron's dendrites where synapses form. When neurons were exposed to miR-134, spine volume significantly decreased, weakening the synapse. When miR-134 was inhibited, ...

Investigating 'brain shrinkage' in alcoholics

... 'myelin' that is similar to the plastic coating around electrical wires. Nerve cells also have shorter and more numerous fibres or processes called dendrites with many fine branching processes ?similar to the root system of a tree ?that allow them to 'talk' with neighbouring neurons, often as many as five ...

Liposome finding implies electrical effect on cell development

... of such electrically caused bionanotubule formation may reveal a previously unknown process involved in the development of structures like axons and dendrites in nerve cells. Hayes will present the results of the experiments at a 2 p.m. March 15 session entitled "Colloids in Complex Fluids" at the ...