Article
Biology
Xin-Tai Wang, Lin Zhou, Bin-Bin Dong, Fang-Xiao Xu, De-Juan Wang, En-Wei Shen, Xin-Yu Cai, Yin Wang, Na Wang, Sheng-Jian Ji, Wei Chen, Martijn Schonewille, J. Julius Zhu, Chris De Zeeuw, Ying Shen
Summary: The EPAC-PKCe module plays a critical role in a previously unidentified form of presynaptic long-term potentiation in the cerebellum and motor behavior in mice. Blocking EPAC-PKCe signaling specific to granule cells abolishes presynaptic long-term potentiation at parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapses and impairs basic performance and learning of cerebellar motor behavior.
Article
Cell Biology
Natasha Saviuk, Yumaine Chong, Peng Wang, Sara Bermudez, Zhe Zhao, Arjun A. Bhaskaran, Derek Bowie, Nahum Sonenberg, Ellis Cooper, A. Pejmun Haghighi
Summary: Genetic perturbances in translational regulation affect cerebellar motor learning and synaptic plasticity, but the role of translational mechanisms in cerebellar plasticity is not well understood. This study shows that the genetic removal of 4E-BP, a translational suppressor, leads to a significant change in cerebellar synaptic plasticity, converting long-term depression (LTD) to long-term potentiation. The results suggest that translational regulation through 4E-BP is critical for establishing the appropriate kinase/phosphatase balance required for normal synaptic plasticity in the cerebellum.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Saeed Solouki, Farzad Mehrabi, Iraj Mirzaii-Dizgah
Summary: This study develops a firing rate model of cerebellar circuits to simulate the learning features of optokinetic reflex (OKR), and investigates the effects of synaptic plasticity defects on learning. The research reveals a correlation between the location and grade of the defect with learning factors, and proposes a differential assay to identify faulty phases of cerebellar learning.
JOURNAL OF NEURAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
F. Locatelli, T. Soda, I Montagna, S. Tritto, L. Botta, F. Prestori, E. D'Angelo
Summary: Research has found that excitatory synapses on Golgi cells in the cerebellum exhibit a unique voltage dependence in long-term plasticity, with activation of T-type and L-type Ca2+ channels playing important roles in inducing LTP and LTD. Additionally, there is an inverted relationship between plasticity at mossy fiber-Golgi cell synapses and mossy fiber-granule cell synapses in terms of voltage dependence.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Takuma Inoshita, Tomoo Hirano
Summary: The cerebellum is involved in motor learning, with LTD at PF-PC synapses considered a primary mechanism. NE's contribution to cerebellum-dependent learning has been reported separately. Studies have found that NE facilitates LTD induction at PF-PC synapses in the cerebellar flocculus through activation of PKA via p-AR.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alireza Ghadimi, Leon Amadeus Steiner, Milos Popovic, Luka Milosevic, Milad Lankarany
Summary: This study presents a computational predictive model for the dynamics of short-term synaptic plasticity (STP) induced by deep brain stimulation (DBS) at different frequencies. The model-based approach integrates multiple frequencies of DBS-like electrical stimulation as pre-synaptic spikes and infers the parameters of the TM model from the post-synaptic currents. By distinguishing between steady-state and transient responses, a dual optimization algorithm is developed to track the model parameters in two steps. The applicability of the method is confirmed through empirical data from rodent brain slices.
Article
Physics, Applied
Liqiang Guo, Qian Dong, Zhiyuan Li, Weilin Wang, Guanggui Cheng, Minchang Wang
Summary: This study introduces albumen-gate based synaptic transistors, showing strong electrical properties and the ability to simulate basic biological synaptic functions, indicating great potential applications in 'green' neuromorphic platforms.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Grzegorz Wiera, Katarzyna Lebida, Anna Maria Lech, Patrycja Brzdak, Inge Van Hove, Lies De Groef, Lieve Moons, Enrica Maria Petrini, Andrea Barberis, Jerzy W. Mozrzymas
Summary: This study demonstrates that MMP3 plays a key role in iLTP mechanisms, affecting behaviors that in part depend on GABAergic plasticity.
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Soomaayeh Heysieattalab, Jafar Doostmohammadi, Mahgol Darvishmolla, Negin Saeedi, Narges Hosseinmardi, Masoumeh Gholami, Mahyar Janahmadi, Samira Choopani
Summary: Long-term administration of ASA and SS may have detrimental effects on spatial learning and memory, as well as hippocampal synaptic plasticity, leading to impairments in memory acquisition and retrieval.
NAUNYN-SCHMIEDEBERGS ARCHIVES OF PHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Madeleine Kyrke-Smith, Lenora J. Volk, Samuel F. Cooke, Mark F. Bear, Richard L. Huganir, Jason D. Shepherd
Summary: Research shows that mice lacking the Arc gene do not exhibit deficits in hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), indicating that Arc is not necessary for LTP in the hippocampus.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zhengchang Lei, Kristin Henderson, Krystyna Keleman
Summary: Learning enhances sleep, and a neural circuit in Drosophila mediates the learning-induced sleep, ensuring that only long or intense learning experiences are consolidated into long-term memory.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Eunbi Cho, Se Jin Jeon, Jieun Jeon, Jee Hyun Yi, Huiyoung Kwon, Hyun-Ji Kwon, Kyoung Ja Kwon, Minho Moon, Chan Young Shin, Dong Hyun Kim
Summary: Phyllodulcin, a component of hydrangea, can inhibit the aggregation of A beta and improve memory impairments in AD mice, suggesting it may be a potential treatment for AD.
BIOMEDICINE & PHARMACOTHERAPY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kun-Han Lin, Holger Taschenberger, Erwin Neher
Summary: Glutamatergic synapses display variable strength and diverse short-term plasticity, which is determined by the fraction of docked synaptic vesicles equipped with a mature release machinery rather than the fusion probability. Traditional quantal analysis methods do not accurately reflect the fusion probability, but rather reflect the distribution between mature and immature priming states at rest.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Takaaki Fujii, Akira Sakurai, J. Troy Littleton, Motojiro Yoshihara
Summary: Short-term synaptic plasticity, a rapid and robust modification in neuronal pre-synaptic output, is determined by the Ca2+-binding protein Synaptotagmin 7 (Syt7). Syt7 controls the initial probability of synaptic vesicle fusion to determine whether neurons display short-term facilitation or depression. Syt7 acts to suppress synaptic transmission in order to maintain an output range where facilitation is available to the neuron.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Danit Lavenda-Grosberg, Maya Lalzar, Noam Leser, Aseel Yaseen, Assaf Malik, Mouna Maroun, Liza Barki-Harrington, Shlomo Wagner
Summary: Acute social isolation in adult male rats results in social memory loss, accompanied by significant changes in the expression of specific mRNAs and proteins in the medial amygdala, a brain structure crucial for social memory. Upon regrouping, memory returns and most molecular changes are reversed, but some genes associated with neurodegenerative diseases remain modified for at least a day longer, suggesting that acute social isolation and rapid resocialization can induce significant changes to neuronal networks, some of which may be pathological.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Serge Moudio, Ashleigh Willis, Karolina Pytka, Roua Abulkassim, Ros R. Brett, Jack F. Webster, Christian Wozny, Mark Barbour, Hui-Rong Jiang, David G. Watson, Josie C. van Kralingen, Scott M. MacKenzie, Michael Daniels, Barry W. McColl, Sandra Sossick, Hugh N. Nuthall, Trevor J. Bushell
Summary: The study found that PAR2 activation can lead to behavioral changes similar to depressive symptoms and inflammatory features, making it a potential target for novel antidepressant therapies.
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Noam Nitzan, Rachel Swanson, Dietmar Schmitz, Gyorgy Buzsaki
Summary: The study found that sharp wave ripples (SPW-Rs) coincided with a transient brain-wide increase in functional connectivity, and the diversity in SPW-R features was correlated with their intrahippocampal topography along the septotemporal axis. Furthermore, variations in SPW-R features were related to the timing, sign, and magnitude of downstream responses.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Bettina Schmerl, Niclas Gimber, Benno Kuropka, Alexander Stumpf, Jakob Rentsch, Stella-Amrei Kunde, Judith von Sivers, Helge Ewers, Dietmar Schmitz, Christian Freund, Jan Schmoranzer, Nils Rademacher, Sarah A. Shoichet
Summary: Recent advances in imaging technology have revealed the arrangement of scaffold proteins and receptors in subsynaptic nanodomains. The discovery of MPP2 as a peripheral protein in the postsynaptic density (PSD) and its interaction with GABA(A) receptor subunits suggest its function as a scaffold in the assembly and/or modulation of GABA(A) receptors, as well as its role in regulating inhibitory synaptic transmission.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Claudia Schwarz, Gloria S. Benson, Nora Horn, Katharina Wurdack, Ulrike Grittner, Ralph Schilling, Stefanie Maerschenz, Theresa Koebe, Sebastian J. Hofer, Christoph Magnes, Slaven Stekovic, Tobias Eisenberg, Stephan J. Sigrist, Dietmar Schmitz, Miranka Wirth, Frank Madeo, Agnes Floeel
Summary: This 12-month randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial found that longer-term spermidine supplementation did not modify memory and biomarkers in participants with subjective cognitive decline.
Review
Neurosciences
Benjamin R. Rost, Jonas Wietek, Ofer Yizhar, Dietmar Schmitz
Summary: This review provides a comprehensive overview of the presynaptic applications of optogenetic tools, discussing the challenges, limitations, and future directions. Optogenetic actuators enable precise control of presynaptic functions, such as light-mediated neurotransmitter release, presynaptic inhibition, induction of synaptic plasticity, and manipulation of individual components of the presynaptic machinery.
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Jack F. Webster, Sanne Beerens, Christian Wozny
Summary: Early life stress can lead to depression in humans and depressive-like behavior in rodents. The lateral habenula (LHb) has been found to become hyperactive after early life stress in various animal models of depression. However, whether these pathological changes persist into adulthood is not well understood. A study using the maternal separation (MS) model of depression in mice found that a weak depressive phenotype persists into adulthood, which is surprisingly associated with LHb hypoactivity. The LHb neurons are in a sensitized state, making them more responsive to re-exposure to stress and leading to LHb hyperactivity. This study provides insights into the mechanisms underlying depression relapse.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Lucie Y. Li, Jakob Kreye, Malgorzata Burek, Cesar Cordero-Gomez, Paula C. Barthel, Elisa Sanchez-Sendin, Hans-Christian Kornau, Dietmar Schmitz, Madeleine Scharf, Patrick Meybohm, S. Momsen Reincke, Harald Pruess, Markus Hoeltje
Summary: This study identifies autoantibodies to brain blood vessels in patients with autoimmune encephalitis, suggesting their potential role in disrupting the blood-brain barrier.
FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biology
Michael Kintscher, Olexiy Kochubey, Ralf Schneggenburger
Summary: This study investigates the role of the ventral tail striatum (vTS) in auditory-cued fear learning of male mice. It shows that direct (D1R+) and indirect pathway neurons (Adora+) in the vTS exhibit differential responses to footshocks and freezing, and a sub-population of D1R+ neurons increase their responsiveness to auditory cues during fear learning. The study also identifies the posterior insular cortex (pInsCx) as an important cortical input to the vTS, and reveals long-term plasticity in the pInsCx synapses onto D1R+ and Adora+ neurons.
Article
Neurosciences
Ellen Knierim, Johannes Vogt, Michael Kintscher, Alexey Ponomarenko, Jan Baumgart, Prateep Beed, Tatiana Korotkova, Thorsten Trimbuch, Axel Panzer, Ortrud K. Steinlein, Ulrich Stephani, Andrew Escayg, Mahmoud Koko, Yuanyuan Liu, Holger Lerche, Dietmar Schmitz, Robert Nitsch, Markus Schuelke
Summary: The PLPPR4 gene encodes the PRG-1 protein, which modulates cortical excitatory transmission. Variants in the PLPPR4 gene are associated with BFNS/BFIS. The study found that partial loss-of-function of the Plppr4 gene has an impact on the development of BFNS/BFIS.
Article
Neurosciences
Kazi Atikur Rahman, Marta Orlando, Ayub Boulos, Ewa Andrzejak, Dietmar Schmitz, Noam E. Ziv, Harald Pruess, Craig C. Garner, Aleksandra Ichkova
Summary: Autoantibodies against NMDA receptors can cause internalization and loss of receptors, leading to the pathogenesis of NMDAR encephalitis. This study shows that microglia, a type of immune cells, play a role in removing the antibody-bound NMDARs, contributing to receptor and synapse loss. Mutations blocking the interaction between the antibody and microglia attenuate the loss of receptors and synapses, highlighting the critical involvement of microglia in autoimmune encephalitis.
Article
Biology
Roberto De Filippo, Dietmar Schmitz
Summary: Hippocampal ripples are synchronous neural events critical for memory consolidation and retrieval. This study used a large dataset to analyze ripple propagation within the hippocampal formation and found that strong ripples propagate differently depending on their generation point along the hippocampal axis. The results suggest a distinctive role of the hippocampal septal pole in conditions of high-memory demand and highlight the impact of ripple generation location on neural activity across the hippocampus.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jakob Kreye, S. Momsen Reincke, Stefan Edelburg, Lara M. Jeworowski, Hans-Christian Kornau, Jakob Trimpert, Peter Hombach, Sophia Halbe, Volker Noelle, Martin Meyer, Stefanie Kattenbach, Elisa Sanchez-Sendin, Marie L. Schmidt, Tatjana Schwarz, Ruben Rose, Andi Krumbholz, Sophie Merz, Julia M. Adler, Kathrin Eschke, Azza Abdelgawad, Dietmar Schmitz, Leif E. Sander, Uwe Janssen, Victor M. Corman, Harald Pruess
Summary: The emergence of novel viral variants of concern (VOCs) that evade preexisting antibody immunity poses a continuous challenge for developing updated therapies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In this study, the patient-derived antibody CV38-142 was selected for preclinical development as a therapeutic due to its potency and breadth against multiple VOCs. CV38-142 demonstrated efficacy in vivo against VOC infection in a Syrian hamster model and showed favorable safety characteristics in human protein library screening and tissue cross-reactivity analysis. However, it did not neutralize the Omicron lineages BA.1 and BA.2, underscoring the need for developing broadly neutralizing variant-proof antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
S. Momsen Reincke, Niels von Wardenburg, Marie A. Homeyer, Hans-Christian Kornau, Gregorio Spagni, Lucie Y. Li, Jakob Kreye, Elisa Sanchez-Sendin, Sonja Blumenau, Dominik Stappert, Helena Radbruch, Anja E. Hauser, Annette Kuenkele, Inan Edes, Dietmar Schmitz, Harald Pruess
Summary: NMDAR-CAAR T cells selectively eliminate anti-NMDAR B cells and disease-causing autoantibodies, offering a promising new approach for the treatment of NMDAR encephalitis.
Review
Neurosciences
Alexandra Tzilivaki, John J. Tukker, Nikolaus Maier, Panayiota Poirazi, Rosanna P. Sammons, Dietmar Schmitz
Summary: This article explores the brain's ability to capture and store information, focusing on the types, plasticity, and activity patterns of interneurons in the hippocampus and their impact on memory processing.
