Neurobiology

A small selection of  Open Access articles on neurobiology from The Company of Biologists’ journals

REVIEW

Is this a brain which I see before me? Modeling human neural development with pluripotent stem cells

Ikuo K. Suzuki, Pierre Vanderhaeghen

Development 2015 142: 3138-3150; doi: 10.1242/dev.120568

Summary: This Review examines stem cell-based approaches to analysing human brain development, from specification of particular cell types to building neuronal networks.

RESEARCH ARTICLES

The multivesicular body is the major internal site of prion conversion

Yang-In Yim, Bum-Chan Park, Rajgopal Yadavalli, Xiaohong Zhao, Evan Eisenberg, Lois E. Greene

J Cell Sci 2015 128: 1434-1443; doi: 10.1242/jcs.165472

Ca2+ is a key factor in α-synuclein-induced neurotoxicity

Plamena R. Angelova, Marthe H. R. Ludtmann, Mathew H. Horrocks, Alexander Negoda, Nunilo Cremades, David Klenerman, Christopher M. Dobson, Nicholas W. Wood, Evgeny V. Pavlov, Sonia Gandhi, Andrey Y. Abramov

J Cell Sci 2016 129: 1792-1801; doi: 10.1242/jcs.180737

Summary: Monomeric and oligomeric α-synuclein induce Ca2+ signal in neurons and astrocytes by incorporating into the membrane.

Identifying the primary site of pathogenesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – vulnerability of lower motor neurons to proximal excitotoxicity

Catherine A. Blizzard, Katherine A. Southam, Edgar Dawkins, Katherine E. Lewis, Anna E. King, Jayden A. Clark, Tracey C. Dickson

Disease Models & Mechanisms 2015 8: 215-224; doi: 10.1242/dmm.018606

Small heat shock proteins mediate cell-autonomous and -nonautonomous protection in a Drosophila model for environmental-stress-induced degeneration

Fumiko Kawasaki, Noelle L. Koonce, Linda Guo, Shahroz Fatima, Catherine Qiu, Mackenzie T. Moon, Yunzhen Zheng, Richard W. Ordway

Disease Models & Mechanisms 2016 9: 953-964; doi: 10.1242/dmm.026385

Summary: A Drosophila model for environmental-stress-induced degeneration exhibits key features for genetic analysis of degenerative disease mechanisms and reveals new forms of protection mediated by small heat shock proteins.

Amyloids assemble as part of recognizable structures during oogenesis in Xenopus

Michael H. Hayes, Daniel L. Weeks

Biology Open 2016 5: 801-806; doi: 10.1242/bio.017384

Summary: Non-membrane-bound nuclear particles in Xenopus oocytes responsible for RNA transcription, modification and processing contain proteins assembled into amyloids as part of normal development.

Engrailed 1 shapes the dopaminergic and serotonergic landscape through proper isthmic organizer maintenance and function

Willemieke M. Kouwenhoven, Jesse V. Veenvliet, Johannes A. van Hooft, L. P. van der Heide, Marten P. Smidt

Biology Open 2016 5: 279-288; doi: 10.1242/bio.015032

Summary: Local molecular coding under the influence of En1 is essential for proper spatiotemporal expression of key factors involved in the maintenance and function of the isthmic organizer.

STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION

Spinal motor neurons are regenerated after mechanical lesion and genetic ablation in larval zebrafish

Jochen Ohnmacht, Yujie Yang (杨宇婕), Gianna W. Maurer, Antón Barreiro-Iglesias, Themistoklis M. Tsarouchas, Daniel Wehner, Dirk Sieger, Catherina G. Becker, Thomas Becker

Development 2016 143: 1464-1474; doi: 10.1242/dev.129155

Summary: Regeneration of spinal motor neurons following mechanical lesion or genetic ablation occurs at the expense of oligodendrogenesis and is promoted by the innate immune system.