Research Highlights |
Featured
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Letter |
Dopamine neurons modulate pheromone responses in Drosophila courtship learning
Young male fruitflies learn to avoid futile courtship of non-virgin females because the latter are scented with the male pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate; this behaviour results from an increase in the males’ innate sensitivity for the pheromone and is controlled by a small set of dopaminergic neurons.
- Krystyna Keleman
- , Eleftheria Vrontou
- & Barry J. Dickson
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Letter |
Autistic-like behaviour and cerebellar dysfunction in Purkinje cell Tsc1 mutant mice
Both heterozygous loss and homozygous loss of Tsc1 in mouse cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) result in autistic-like behaviours, which can be prevented by treatment with the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin; these findings demonstrate critical roles for PCs in autistic-like behaviours in mice.
- Peter T. Tsai
- , Court Hull
- & Mustafa Sahin
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Letter |
Apolipoprotein E controls cerebrovascular integrity via cyclophilin A
The APOE4-mediated proinflammatory pathway is shown to initiate blood–brain barrier breakdown and resulting neurodegeneration in transgenic mice.
- Robert D. Bell
- , Ethan A. Winkler
- & Berislav V. Zlokovic
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Letter |
Sustained translational repression by eIF2α-P mediates prion neurodegeneration
Accumulation of prion protein during prion replication causes persistent translational repression of global protein synthesis, which is mediated by eIF2α-P and is associated with synaptic failure and neuronal loss in prion-diseased mice; promoting translational recovery in hippocampi of prion-infected mice is neuroprotective.
- Julie A. Moreno
- , Helois Radford
- & Giovanna R. Mallucci
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Article |
Molecular mechanism of ATP binding and ion channel activation in P2X receptors
The X-ray crystal structure of the zebrafish P2X4 receptor in the presence and absence of ATP is determined, revealing an ATP-binding site and an open ion channel pore.
- Motoyuki Hattori
- & Eric Gouaux
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Letter |
MEGF10 and MEGF11 mediate homotypic interactions required for mosaic spacing of retinal neurons
The related transmembrane proteins MEGF10 and MEGF11 are shown to have critical roles in the formation of mosaic arrangements in the retina.
- Jeremy N. Kay
- , Monica W. Chu
- & Joshua R. Sanes
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Research Highlights |
How the brain slows with age
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Letter |
Molecular organization of vomeronasal chemoreception
- Yoh Isogai
- , Sheng Si
- & Catherine Dulac
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Letter |
Neural network computation with DNA strand displacement cascades
- Lulu Qian
- , Erik Winfree
- & Jehoshua Bruck
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Research Highlights |
Can humans sense magnetic fields?
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Research Highlights |
Bitter breath for lung airways
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Letter |
Molecular regulation of sexual preference revealed by genetic studies of 5-HT in the brains of male mice
Although it has been known for some time that rodent mating depends on many social and chemical cues, very little is known about the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying such behaviour. Here it is shown that serotonergic neuron signalling seems to stabilize sexual preference, with the loss of the neurotransmitter serotonin causing indiscriminate mating behaviour in male mice.
- Yan Liu
- , Yun’ai Jiang
- & Yi Rao
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Article |
A critical role for IGF-II in memory consolidation and enhancement
After learning, memories are strengthened through a process called 'consolidation', which requires new gene and protein expression, rendering new information less vulnerable to disruption. Several transcription factor families are involved in this process, but many of the relevant downstream targets are unknown. Here, IGF-II, a protein typically implicated in somatic tissue growth and repair, is identified as an essential factor in memory retention. IGF-II initiates its own network of signalling cascades that can lead to synaptic potentiation and are most effective within a short time frame immediately after learning. Thus, IGF-II represents an endogenous target for potentially modulating cognitive enhancement.
- Dillon Y. Chen
- , Sarah A. Stern
- & Cristina M. Alberini