cytoskeleton

The tubulin code in neuron health and disease : focus on detyrosination

Mechanisms of Axon Growth and Regeneration

Almost everybody that has seen neurons under a microscope for the first time is fascinated by their beauty and their complex shape. Early on during development, however, there are hardly any signs of their future complexity, but the neurons look round and simple. How do neurons develop their sophisticated structure? How do they initially generate domains that later have distinct function within neuronal circuits, such as the axon? And, can a better understanding of the underlying developmental mechanisms help us in pathological conditions, such as a spinal cord injury, to induce axons to regenerate? Here, I will talk about the cytoskeleton as a driving force for neuronal polarization. We will then explore how cytoskeletal changes help to reactivate the growth program of injured CNS axons to elicit axon regeneration after a spinal cord injury. Finally, we will discuss whether axon growth and synapse formation may be processes in neurons that might exclude each other. Following this developmental hypothesis, it will help us to generate a novel perspective on regeneration failure in the adult CNS, and how we can overcome this failure to induce axon regeneration. Thus, this talk will describe how we can exploit developmental mechanisms to induce axon regeneration after a spinal cord injury.

The many faces of KCC2 in the generation and suppression of seizures

KCC2, best known as the neuron-specific chloride extruder that sets the strength and polarity of GABAergic Cl-currents, is a multifunctional molecule which interacts with other ion-regulatory proteins and (structurally) with the neuronal cytoskeleton. Its multiple roles in the generation and suppression of seizures have been widely studied. In my talk, I will address some fundamental issues which are relevant in this field of research: What are EGABA shifts about? What is the role of KCC2 in shunting inhibition? What is meant by “the balance between excitation and inhibition” and, in this context, by the “NKCC1/KCC2 ratio”? Is down-regulation of KCC2 following neuronal trauma a manifestation of adaptive or maladaptive ionic plasticity? Under what conditions is K-Cl cotransport by KCC2 promoting seizures? Should we pay more attention to KCC2 as molecule involved in dendritic spine formation in brain areas such as the hippocampus? Most of these points are of potential importance also in the design of KCC2-targeting drugs and genetic manipulations aimed at combating seizures.

Tight junction proteins expression and cytoskeleton rearrangement are associated with brain microvascular endothelium permeabilisation in epileptogenesis

Control of post-synaptic density protein recruitment by optogenetic manipulation of the spine cytoskeleton

Cytoskeleton regulation as possible critical hub of lithium response in patients with bipolar disorder

Filamin A modulates dendritic branching via integrin-Akt axis and actin cytoskeleton

Janus Kinase and Microtubule-Interacting Protein 1 (JAKMIP1), a novel regulator of nuclear RNA export in neurons: coupling transcription to cytoplasmic translation through the microtubule cytoskeleton

Live-cell observation of cytosolic DISC1 suggests its interactions with cytoskeleton and existence of DISC1 oligomers

The X-linked PTCHD1 gene associated with ID and/or ASD interacts as a protein receptor with RAC1 a key regulator of cytoskeleton remodeling and synapse plasticity

Filamin A modulates dendritic branching via integrin-Akt axis and actin cytoskeleton

FENS Forum 2024

PTCHD1 modulates cytoskeleton remodeling through regulation of Rac1-PAK signaling pathway, consistent with neurodevelopmental disorders phenotype

FENS Forum 2024

Unraveling neuroinflammation and cytoskeleton dynamics in brain ischemia: Insights from an oxygen-glucose deprivation model of stroke in organotypic hippocampal cultures for anti-inflammatory strategies

FENS Forum 2024