Latest Molecular neuroscience Stories
Early disruptions in serotonin signaling in the brain may contribute to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and other "enduring effects on behavior," Vanderbilt University researchers report. Serotonin is a brain chemical that carries signals across the synapse, or gap between nerve cells. The supply of serotonin is regulated by the serotonin transporter (SERT). In 2005, a team of Vanderbilt researchers led by Randy Blakely and James Sutcliffe identified rare genetic variations in children...
MENLO PARK, Calif., March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In preclinical studies, researchers at SRI International and Astraea Therapeutics have recently evaluated the role of a new drug receptor target that shows promise for the treatment of drug addiction. This potential new drug target belongs to a class of receptors called the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). One subtype of nAChRs, called alpha4beta2, is a well-known target for nicotine's addictive effects and the...
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have designed, produced and patented a new chemical compound for the possible treatment of brain damage caused by stroke. The compound binds 1,000 times more effectively to the target protein in the brain than the potential drug currently being tested on stroke victims. The results of biological tests have just been published in the renowned journal PNAS. More than 140,000 people die each year from stroke in the United States. Stroke causes the...
Researchers have revealed that the neural circuits controlling hunger and eating behaviors are also controlled by plasticity. They found that during fasting, the AgRP neurons that drive feeding behaviors actually undergo anatomical changes that cause them to become more active. This effect results in these neurons "learning" to be more responsive to hunger-promoting neural stimuli. "The role of plasticity has generally not been evaluated in neuronal circuits that control feeding...
Some unusual alliances are necessary for you to wiggle your fingers, researchers report. Understanding those relationships should enable better treatment of neuromuscular diseases, such as myasthenia gravis, which prevent muscles from taking orders from your brain, said Dr. Lin Mei, Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at Georgia Health Sciences University. During development, neurons in the spinal cord reach out to muscle fibers to form a direct line of...
Control of a “blind” neuroreceptor with an optical switch When nerve cells communicate with one another, specialized receptor molecules on their surfaces play a central role in relaying signals between them. A collaborative venture involving teams of chemists based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich and the University of California in Berkeley has now succeeded in converting an intrinsically “blind” receptor molecule into a photoreceptor. They achieved this feat by...
A brain cell type found where habits are formed and movement is controlled has receptors that work like computer processors to translate regular activities into habits, researchers report. "Habits, for better or worse, basically define who we are," said Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, Co-Director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University. Habits also provide mental freedom and flexibility by enabling many activities to be on autopilot while the brain focuses...
A tiny piece of a critical receptor that fuels the brain and without which sentient beings cannot live has been discovered by University at Buffalo scientists as a promising new drug target for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. The research on the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor is being published online Oct. 11 in Nature Communications. "This is the first time that this site has been shown to be useful as a drug target," says Gabriela K. Popescu, PhD, associate...
New approach simplifies the search for more specific drugs Psychiatric ailments such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety states are often associated with disturbances in the metabolism of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Neurotransmitters are compounds that are released from the synapses at nerve cell endings and activate the firing of neighboring neurons. Thus, as their name suggests, they mediate the transmission of nerve impulses. The serotonin transporter (SERT) is...
Nicolas G. Bazan, MD, Ph.D, Boyd Professor and Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and David Stark, an MD/Ph.D student working in his lab, have discovered how a key chemical neurotransmitter that interacts with two receptors in the brain promotes either normal function or a disease process -- determining whether brain cells live or die. The work is published and highlighted in the September 28, 2011 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience....
