Neural Cell News
Neural Cell News is an online resource covering the latest research in neuroscience, neural stem cells, and neurological conditions.
Heterozygous RAB3A Variants Cause Cerebellar Ataxia by a Partial Loss-of-Function Mechanism
[Brain] Researchers identified RAB3A as a candidate gene for autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxia by two independent approaches: linkage in a large dominant ataxia family and, in parallel, an untargeted computational genetic association approach.
PD-L1/PD-1 Checkpoint Pathway Regulates Astrocyte Morphogenesis and Myelination during Brain Development
[Molecular Psychiatry] Scientists demonstrated that PD-L1/PD-1 signaling in astrocytes during mouse brain development regulated astrocyte maturation and morphogenesis via the MEK/ERK pathway by targeting the downstream effector cysteine and glycine rich protein 1.
Higher Plasma Soluble TREM2 Correlates with Reduced Cerebral Tau Accumulation in Alzheimer’s Disease
[Molecular Psychiatry] The authors collected 318 Chinese older adults with Aβ PET and plasma biomarker measures, including soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell 2 (TREM2) and glial fibrillary acidic protein, a proxy for astrocyte reactivity.
The Postsynaptic Density in Excitatory Synapses Is Composed of Clustered, Heterogeneous Nanoblocks
[Journal of Cell Biology] Scientists used cryo-electron tomography to directly visualize the three-dimensional architecture and supramolecular organization of postsynaptic components in both synaptosomes and synapses from cultured neurons.
PI3Kβ Functions As a Protein Kinase to Promote Cellular Protein O-GlcNAcylation and Acetyl-CoA Production for Tumor Growth
[Molecular Cell] Investigators demonstrate that high glucose induces PI3Kβ binding to O-linked β-D-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase (OGT) in glioblastoma cells, dependent on hexokinase 1-mediated OGT Y889 phosphorylation and subsequent p85α recruitment.
Tolebrutinib Regulatory Submission Accepted for Priority Review in the US for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
[Sanofi] The US FDA is evaluating under priority review the regulatory submission of tolebrutinib to treat non-relapsing secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and to slow disability accumulation independent of relapse activity in adult patients.
Autonomic Dysfunction in Neurodegenerative Disease
[Nature Reviews Neuroscience] Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with impairments in autonomic function — the regulation of involuntary physiological processes. These autonomic impairments manifest in different ways and at different stages depending on the specific disease.
GSK, UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) to Collaborate on First-of-Its-Kind Dementia Research Initiative
[GSK] GSK plc announced a major new research collaboration with the UK DRI and HDR UK to advance understanding of neurodegeneration with a first-of-its-kind dementia study.
How Microglia Contribute to the Induction and Maintenance of Neuropathic Pain
[Nature Neuroscience] Microglia respond to and modulate neuronal activity during establishment and persistence of neuropathic pain states, and microglia–neuron pathways provide targets that can be exploited to attenuate abnormal neuronal activity and provide pain relief.
Knowing the Enemy: Strategic Targeting of Complement to Treat Alzheimer Disease
[Nature Reviews Neurology] The authors provide justification, largely from preclinical mouse models but also from correlates with human tissue and biomarkers, for targeting specific complement components for therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer disease.
Neural Ensembles That Encode Nocifensive Mechanical and Heat Pain in Mouse Spinal Cord
[Nature Neuroscience] By means of genetic capturing, activity manipulation and single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers identified distinct neural ensembles in the adult mouse spinal cord encoding mechanical and heat pain.
Brain 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Alterations Are Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropathology
[Nature Communications] Scientists reported a genome-wide profiling of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in 1079 autopsied brains of older individuals and assessed its association with multiple measures of Alzheimer’s disease pathologies.
Neural Cell News helps scientists keep pace with the latest research, reviews, and industry developments in neuroscience. Specific research topics include neural development and neuroregeneration, neural signaling related to cellular responses and behavior, and synaptic plasticity. Research into the diagnosis, progression, cellular characteristics, and treatment of brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and various brain cancers, as well as brain damage resulting from infection, trauma, stroke, seizures, and tumors, is also covered.
