• About us
  • Contact
Friday, September 29, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Times Of Nation
-18 °c
  • Top Stories
  • Genetics
  • Environment
  • Wildlife
  • Outer space
    Colliding Moons Might Have Created Saturn’s Rings

    Colliding Moons Might Have Created Saturn’s Rings

    China adds yet another Yaogan spy satellite to its orbital fleet (launch video)

    China adds yet another Yaogan spy satellite to its orbital fleet (launch video)

    Watch Chinese astronauts light a match on Tiangong space station (video)

    Watch Chinese astronauts light a match on Tiangong space station (video)

    Is it Life, or is it Volcanoes?

    Is it Life, or is it Volcanoes?

    If Earth is Average, We Should Find Extraterrestrial Life Within 60 Light-Years

    If Earth is Average, We Should Find Extraterrestrial Life Within 60 Light-Years

    Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission slips a week due to spacecraft issue – Spaceflight Now

    Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission slips a week due to spacecraft issue – Spaceflight Now

    Commercial spaceflight research needs a code of ethics, scientists say

    Commercial spaceflight research needs a code of ethics, scientists say

    Astronomers discover thousands of active red galaxy hearts with powerful radio signals

    Astronomers discover thousands of active red galaxy hearts with powerful radio signals

    How fast will October’s annular solar eclipse travel?

    How fast will October’s annular solar eclipse travel?

  • Physics
    The LHC lead-ion collision run starts

    The LHC lead-ion collision run starts

    Fabricating fused silica optics with a high laser-induced damage threshold

    Fabricating fused silica optics with a high laser-induced damage threshold

    Intense lasers shine new light on the electron dynamics of liquids

    Intense lasers shine new light on the electron dynamics of liquids

    Trending Tags

    • geophysics
    • quantum
    • physicists
    • physiology
    • physical
    • holography
  • Top Stories
  • Genetics
  • Environment
  • Wildlife
  • Outer space
    Colliding Moons Might Have Created Saturn’s Rings

    Colliding Moons Might Have Created Saturn’s Rings

    China adds yet another Yaogan spy satellite to its orbital fleet (launch video)

    China adds yet another Yaogan spy satellite to its orbital fleet (launch video)

    Watch Chinese astronauts light a match on Tiangong space station (video)

    Watch Chinese astronauts light a match on Tiangong space station (video)

    Is it Life, or is it Volcanoes?

    Is it Life, or is it Volcanoes?

    If Earth is Average, We Should Find Extraterrestrial Life Within 60 Light-Years

    If Earth is Average, We Should Find Extraterrestrial Life Within 60 Light-Years

    Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission slips a week due to spacecraft issue – Spaceflight Now

    Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission slips a week due to spacecraft issue – Spaceflight Now

    Commercial spaceflight research needs a code of ethics, scientists say

    Commercial spaceflight research needs a code of ethics, scientists say

    Astronomers discover thousands of active red galaxy hearts with powerful radio signals

    Astronomers discover thousands of active red galaxy hearts with powerful radio signals

    How fast will October’s annular solar eclipse travel?

    How fast will October’s annular solar eclipse travel?

  • Physics
    The LHC lead-ion collision run starts

    The LHC lead-ion collision run starts

    Fabricating fused silica optics with a high laser-induced damage threshold

    Fabricating fused silica optics with a high laser-induced damage threshold

    Intense lasers shine new light on the electron dynamics of liquids

    Intense lasers shine new light on the electron dynamics of liquids

    Trending Tags

    • geophysics
    • quantum
    • physicists
    • physiology
    • physical
    • holography
No Result
View All Result
Times Of Nation
No Result
View All Result
bayan çanta
Home Genetics

Study reveals a protein’s key contribution to heterogeneity of neurons

by TimesOfNation
December 8, 2021
in Genetics
Study reveals a protein’s key contribution to heterogeneity of neurons
2
SHARES
12
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Study reveals a protein’s key contribution to heterogeneity of neurons- Times Of Nation

The versatility of the nervous system comes from not only the diversity of ways in which neurons communicate in circuits, but also their ‘plasticity,’ or ability to change those connections when new information has to be remembered, when their circuit partners change, or other conditions emerge. A new study by neuroscientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory of MIT shows how just one protein situated on the front lines of neural connections, or synapses, can profoundly change how some neurons communicate and implement plasticity.

The team found that expression of the tomosyn protein is a major determining factor in whether the ‘presynaptic’ neurons that send signals to control muscle contraction will be ‘phasic,’ meaning they quickly release a lot of the neurotransmitter glutamate across synapses to drive communication, or will be ‘tonic,’ meaning they will apportion glutamate in measured doses, keeping some in reserve. Because tonic neurons have those reserves, the study shows, they can step up glutamate release when receptors across the synapse begin to falter, a plasticity known as presynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP). Phasic neurons, with little or no tomosyn-mediated reserve, cannot respond similarly.

‘If you break the synapse on the postsynaptic side, the presynaptic neuron will recognize that and generate more output to keep the overall synaptic response the same. This critical type of adaptive plasticity requires tomosyn,’ says Troy Littleton, senior author of the new study in eLife and the Menicon Professor of Neuroscience in The Picower Institute and MIT’s departments of Biology and Brain and Cognitive Sciences. ‘Diversity in the ability of different neurons to express this form of plasticity depends on whether they normally express the protein or not.’

Understanding Tomosyn’s role in neurons is important not only for defining the fundamental workings of synapses and plasticity mechanisms, a long-term goal of Littleton’s lab, but also because like flies, humans make tomosyn proteins and have tonic and phasic classes of neurons.

A decoy diversion

Before the study, tomosyn was known to become involved in the ‘SNARE’ molecular machinery of presynaptic neurons. SNARE proteins dock packets, or vesicles, of neurotransmitters such as glutamate on the membrane of neurons so they can be released across the synapse. Tomosyn was also suspected to be a target of an enzyme considered important for learning and memory and plasticity, Littleton said.

Picower Fellow and former graduate student Chad Sauvola led the new study in Littleton’s lab to determine exactly what tomosyn does. He picked up on work started by co-author Nicole Aponte-Santiago PhD ’20, who had made (but not yet tested) mutations of the tomosyn gene in her research on tonic and phasic neuron plasticity.

When Sauvola started recording synaptic transmission from neurons with the tomosyn mutations, which were designed to disable the protein, he saw that the synapses engaged in much more glutamate transmission, with the muscles having much larger responses than normal. The loss of normal tomosyn apparently took the brakes off of glutamate release. Notably, he could repair the effects of the mutation by swapping in the human tomosyn protein, suggesting conservation of the protein’s property across species.

To learn how tomosyn works, Sauvola studied its structure and found the protein prevented synaptic vesicles from docking to the membrane by acting as a decoy to sequester SNARE proteins on the plasma membrane. He confirmed this in electron microscopy of neurons, with synapses lacking tomosyn showing 50 percent more vesicles at the membrane than those with tomosyn present. He also purposely stimulated synapses to encourage glutamate release and found that while normal tomosyn normally kept a lid on activity in wild-type animals, the mutants could not properly brake the amount of synaptic transmission.

A stark difference

Given the difference in glutamate release behavior between tonic and phasic neurons, Sauvola decided to examine tomosyn levels in those cell types. The weaker tonic neurons turned out to have more than twice as much tomosyn as the stronger phasic neurons, suggesting that tomosyn levels could account for the difference in glutamate release style.

To determine if tomosyn had such a pivotal role, Sauvola did more stimulation experiments in the two neuronal types. After stimulation in normal animals, phasic neurons emitted much more glutamate than tonic neurons, as expected. However, in the tomosyn mutants, the two neuronal classes behaved similarly, with tonic neurons releasing more similarly to their phasic neuronal counterparts.

Enabling plasticity

If tomosyn was holding back vesicle release of glutamate specifically in tonic neurons, then that might account for why only tonic neurons are able to exhibit PHP plasticity. Sure enough, when Sauvola disrupted glutamate receptors in muscle cells to induce the PHP response, he found that tonic neurons lacking tomosyn, just like control phasic neurons, could not trigger this form of plasticity. But when he looked at the response in normal tonic neurons, he found that synapse by synapse there were major increases in glutamate release — even synapses that showed very little propensity beforehand seemed to gain substantial capability to release synaptic signals.

‘That’s really an amazing discovery that I hadn’t anticipated,’ Littleton says. ‘It’s very surprising to see that these weak synapses could act much more mature on a very rapid timescale.’

One of the next steps for the lab will be to figure out what molecular interaction causes tomosyn to ease off the brakes when PHP is needed, Littleton says. Another future direction will be to look at other neuron types, especially in the brain, to see how tomosyn levels vary and how that affects their synaptic output.

But the new results definitively show that tomosyn’s ability to prevent SNARE binding of vesicles and resulting glutamate release makes a dramatic difference in neural communication style between tonic and phasic neurons.

In addition to Sauvola, Littleton, and Aponte-Santiago, the paper’s other authors are Yulia Akbergenova and Karen Cunningham.

The National Institutes of Health and the JPB Foundation provided funding for the research.

(News Source -Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Times Of Nation staff and is published from a news.mit.edu feed.)

RelatedArticles

3 Questions: Daniel Lew on what we can learn about cells from yeast

Giving students the computational chops to tackle 21st-century challenges

Decoding the complexity of Alzheimer’s disease

Read Also- Latest News | Current Affairs News | Today News | English News | World News Today

TimesofNation.com offer news and information like- English newspaper today | today English news | English news live | times India | today news in English in India | breaking news in India today | India TV news today & Hindustan News.

You can Read on TimesofNation.com latest news today, breaking news headlines, Top news. Discover national and international news on economy, politics, defence, sports, world news & other relatively current affair’s news.

Tags: Chad SauvolacontributionglutamateheterogeneityKaren Cunninghamkeynervous systemneuronsNicole Aponte-Santiagophasic neuronPicower Instituteplasticitypresynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP)proteinsrevealsSNARE bindingstudysynapsestomosyntonic neuronTroy LittletonYulia Akbergenova
Plugin Install : Subscribe Push Notification need OneSignal plugin to be installed.
TimesOfNation

TimesOfNation

Related Posts

A giant moon collision may have given rise to Saturn’s iconic rings, study suggests

A giant moon collision may have given rise to Saturn’s iconic rings, study suggests

by TimesOfNation
September 28, 2023
2

A giant moon collision may have given rise to Saturn's iconic rings, study suggests: Times Of Nation A collision between...

1st black hole imaged by humanity is confirmed to be spinning, study finds

1st black hole imaged by humanity is confirmed to be spinning, study finds

by TimesOfNation
September 28, 2023
3

1st black hole imaged by humanity is confirmed to be spinning, study finds: Times Of Nation The supermassive black hole...

Antimatter embraces Earth, falling downward like normal matter: Study reveals gravity’s effect on matter’s elusive twin

Antimatter embraces Earth, falling downward like normal matter: Study reveals gravity’s effect on matter’s elusive twin

by TimesOfNation
September 27, 2023
1

Antimatter embraces Earth, falling downward like normal matter- Study reveals gravity's effect on matter's elusive twin- Times Of Nation This...

This TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet seems to have no atmosphere — the truth may hide in its star, James Webb Space Telescope reveals

This TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet seems to have no atmosphere — the truth may hide in its star, James Webb Space Telescope reveals

by TimesOfNation
September 26, 2023
1

This TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet seems to have no atmosphere — the truth may hide in its star, James Webb Space Telescope...

Imaging the elusive skyrmion: Neutron tomography reveals their shapes and dynamics in bulk materials

Imaging the elusive skyrmion: Neutron tomography reveals their shapes and dynamics in bulk materials

by TimesOfNation
September 26, 2023
1

Imaging the elusive skyrmion- Neutron tomography reveals their shapes and dynamics in bulk materials- Times Of Nation In thin strips,...

NASA’s delayed VERITAS Venus mission tests key technology in Iceland (photos)

NASA’s delayed VERITAS Venus mission tests key technology in Iceland (photos)

by TimesOfNation
September 26, 2023
2

NASA's delayed VERITAS Venus mission tests key technology in Iceland (photos): Times Of Nation While NASA's VERITAS Venus mission continues...

Next Post
Japanese billionaire ready for launch to International Space Station – Spaceflight Now

Japanese billionaire ready for launch to International Space Station – Spaceflight Now

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Recommended

Conspiracy to divide workers: CITU

Conspiracy to divide workers: CITU

7 months ago
1

Tiger’s Fortune 100 RODADAS GRÁTIS PARA REGISTRO, precio de zanella pocket 50cc

4 weeks ago
3

Popular News

  • From bin chickens to gang-gangs: Australian bird of the year is a celebration and a call to action

    From bin chickens to gang-gangs: Australian bird of the year is a celebration and a call to action

    3 shares
    Share 1 Tweet 1
  • Radio telescope will launch to moon’s far side in 2025 to hunt for the cosmic Dark Ages

    2 shares
    Share 1 Tweet 1
  • It’s Official. No More Astronomy at Arecibo

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • FAA closes investigation of Blue Origin launch failure

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How Do Lava Worlds Become Earth-Like, Living Planets?

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

About

Times Of Nation

timesofnation.com is a dedicated news website for core sciences, technology, medical research and health news along with current affairs coverage from India. the timesofnation.com website is one of the fast growing online communities for science-minded people....Read more

Category

  • Business News
  • Environment
  • Genetics
  • India
  • Outer space
  • Physics
  • Wildlife

Site Links

  • Corrections Policy
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

Contact Us

Email us to send your suggestions
editor[@]timesofnation.com
Send articles and news to editor[@]timesofnation.com
For other enquiries: admin[@]timesofnation.com
If you find any content violating the editorial code of conduct mail to editor[@]timesofnation.com.

  • Corrections Policy
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Times of Nation. All rights reserved.

ankara escort çankaya escort çankaya escort escort bayan çankaya istanbul rus escort eryaman escort ankara escort kızılay escort istanbul escort ankara escort ankara escort escort ankara istanbul rus Escort atasehir Escort beylikduzu Escort Ankara Escort malatya Escort kuşadası Escort gaziantep Escort izmir Escort
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Genetics
  • Environment
  • Wildlife
  • Outer space
  • Physics

© 2021 Times of Nation. All rights reserved.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.