synapse

Zebrafish may hold key to understanding human nerve cell development

...Gliacommunicate with each other and even influence synapse formationbetween neurons.Piotrowski's research in zebrafish focuses on the development ofsensory neurons known as hair cells. Like humans, zebrafish use haircells to detect sound and motion. However, in humans hair cells areburied deep inside the inn...

Harmful Bacterium Commonly Found in Poultry May Survive Refrigeration and Frozen Storage Combined

...Gliacommunicate with each other and even influence synapse formationbetween neurons.Piotrowski's research in zebrafish focuses on the development ofsensory neurons known as hair cells. Like humans, zebrafish use haircells to detect sound and motion. However, in humans hair cells areburied deep inside the inn...

GenMAPP 2.0 released

...Gliacommunicate with each other and even influence synapse formationbetween neurons.Piotrowski's research in zebrafish focuses on the development ofsensory neurons known as hair cells. Like humans, zebrafish use haircells to detect sound and motion. However, in humans hair cells areburied deep inside the inn...

Researchers make surprise discovery that some neurons can transmit three signals at once

...rst appeared odd to us that an immature inhibitory synapse would want to release an excitatory neurotransmitter. After all, this contradicts the most basic principles that have defined the field of neuroscience. But when we also found that this glutamate activates NMDA receptors at the most critical stage of...

Structure-building cell signals also may influence learning and memory

...ing. The strength of a signal through a nerve cell synapse can be enhanced (by increasing the number of recep...t ephrins played some important part in nerve cell synapse function. Previous studies had shown that animals injected with addictive drugs had activated EphB r...

Small worm yields big clue on muscle receptor action

...an tag this receptor, see if it's localized at the synapse and start to mutagenize animals to figure out what makes that receptor stay or make it to the synapse," she added. Richmond said the finding might have direct relevance to humans because the ACR-16 receptor is very similar to the alpha-7 nicotinic r...

The synapse is a shotgun

...detailed map of the three-dimensional terrain of a synapse -- the junction between neurons which are critical...urons. Their in silico modeling indicates that the synapse may behave more like a shotgun than a rifle when it comes to firing the neurotransmitters involved i...

UIC researchers show protein routes messages in nerve cells

... test animals for answering the question because a synapse called the neuromuscular junction in the fly works much like synapses in human brain cells. "We can quickly mutate the flies," said Featherstone. "We looked among thousands of them for those without the glutamate receptors in the right place at the ...

Scientists observe how a close bond activates the immune system

...en able to physically manipulate the immunological synapse and measure the effect on T cell signaling," says ...n antigen match, the T cell forms an immunological synapse with a dendritic cell through which it queries the dendritic cell for additional information about t...

Penn study finds direct role for glial cells in brain cross-talk

...gh the regulation of the level of adenosine in the synapse may explain the nature of wake-to-sleep transitions during periods of drowsiness. "The next step is to study the behavior of these mice during manipulation of adenosine levels in the brain," says Haydon. The study was a collaboration between Haydon...

What can change in the brain? Electrical synapses, research shows

...-lasting, 20 to 30 percent reduction in electrical synapse strength. While previous studies have shown a related effect in the electrical synapses of goldfish, Landisman and Connors are the first to show that it also occurs in mammals. "The change we describe here is similar to long-term mGluR depression a...

RNA splicing occurs in nerve-cell dendrites

...d to the neuron by the axons of other neurons. The synapse is the neuronal structure where this chemical conn...tion is formed, and investigators surmise that the synapse is where learning and memory occur. Researchers have long agreed that mRNA splicing takes place wi...

Scientists show how thinking can harm brain cells

...mentary strategy. "Preconditioning to protect the synapse is likely to be more important in the early and middle phases of neurodegenerative diseases than simply preserving the cell body," Gelbard said. ...

Tiny RNA molecules fine-tune the brain's synapses

...ning cognitive function by selectively controlling synapse development in response to environmental stimuli. ... could selectively control what's happening at one synapse without affecting another, you greatly increase the information storage and computational capacity o...

How nerve cells stay in shape

...input, change and in this way store new memory. A synapse has two parts: one originates from the axon of the...idence for a possible explanation for the observed synapse changes. Actin is a central protein in the cell's skeleton, which keeps synapses in shape. Formless ...

High-resolution light microscope reveals the fundamental mechanisms of nerve communication

... between cells. Their contents are released at the synapse when the vesicle membranes fuse with the membrane ... with equal probability at all locations along the synapse junction, but preferentially at so-called 'active zones.' The bruchpilot protein discovered in fruit...

Protein receptor cools passion of 'kiss and run' nerve cells

...neuron fires a packet of neurotransmitter across a synapse to a receptive nerve cell. A team of neuroscienti...he degree of information that's passed through the synapse every time it's fired," said Alford. The process involves a receptor protein on a pre-synaptic nerv...

Dying of excitement

...ls must sop up unneeded neurotransmitters from the synapse through membrane-bound transporters. If these transporters fail, neurons and other brain cells get excited to death-- a phenomenon that may contribute to brain damage during stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Indeed, brain deterioration after stroke i...

Newly identified protein complex sheds light on axon growth mechanism

...he molecular mechanisms underlying axon growth and synapse formation in the nematode worm C.elegans. In a stu...xons - a process that drives axon growth and helps synapse formation. The research also shows that UNC-69 is directly involved in the formation of new synapses...

First study to show how immune cells 'speak' to each other in vivo

...drugs or mutations that interfere selectively with synapse formation, the confirmation of these cellular structures increases the understanding of the immune system and paves the way for further research on the body's immune response system. New knowledge in this area may ultimately improve treatment for im...

Life and death in the hippocampus: what young neurons need to survive

...ion," explains Gage. " The NMDA receptor modulates synapse formation and determines what pattern of input activity new neurons receive, which in turn determines survival or death." Combining mouse genetics and gene transfer techniques, Gage and a team headed by former postdoctoral fellow Ayumu Tashiro, Ph....

Researchers add to understanding of how brain cells communicate

...s "talk" to each other by releasing glutamate at a synapse that binds to NMDA receptors on the surface of the...o the listening neuron at the synapse, causing the synapse to be strengthened and you to remember that "hot stove = pain." Another type of NMDA receptor that...

Dopamine used to prompt nerve tissue to regrow

...ssful nerve regeneration will require the nerve to synapse with the target organ," Wang said. "Since we've written this paper, we've also been able to get the nerves to form extensive synapses, which is a step in the right direction."...

Brain works more chaotically than previously thought

... synapse, the dendritic arm of another neuron. The synapse presents an insurmountable barrier to the neuron's...tion by means of an amazing signal conversion: the synapse releases chemical messengers, known as neurotransmitters, which diffuse to the dendrites. There, the...

Scientists produce neurons from human skin

...e between neurons. "This suggests the beginning of synapse formation between neurons," points out Professor Berthod. In the short term, this breakthrough might have an impact in the field of neuroscience research. "Producing neurons from skin cells could solve the problem of human neural cell availability...

New Brandeis research sheds light on memory by erasing it

...ossible to determine whether the kinase leaves the synapse after inhibitor is applied. This provides a way to directly visualize the forgetting process and complements previous work done in Lisman's laboratory showing that when LTP is induced (as during learning), CaMKII moves into the synapse. ...

Newborn neurons like to hang with the 'in' crowd

... signal. The signaling molecules travel across the synapse and induce a signal on the neighboring, receiving nerve fiber or dendrite. A typical neuron sports about 7,000 synapses through which it stays in touch with roughly 1,000 other cells. But just how young neurons make their presence known and hook up w...

Researchers reveal structure of protein altered in autism

...patients with autism,” said Taylor. He added that synapse formation and maintenance occurs early in development when the infant brain is still plastic and formative. Therefore, by understanding the structural mutations that affect neurotransmission during development, new leads into drug therapies may emer...