Neuroscientists Explain How Mutated X Linked Mental Retardation Protein Impairs Neuronal Function There are new clues about malfunctions in brain cells that contribute to intellectual disability and possibly other developmental brain disorders. The research is in Journal of Neuroscience. (full access paywall) Research: “The X-linked Mental Retardation Protein OPHN1 Interacts with Homer1b/c to Control Spine Endocytic Zone Positioning and Expression of Synaptic Potentiation” by Akiko Nakano-Kobayashi, Yilin Tai, Nael Nadif Kasri, and Linda Van Aelst in Journal of Neuroscience. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0894-14.2014 Image: False color image of a mouse hippocampal neuron (cell body is at lower right) with branchlike dendrites that provide surfaces at which projections from other neurons can connect, by forming synapses. Van Aelst and colleagues have shown that when the OPHN1 protein is mutated, interfering with its ability to interact with another protein called Homer1b/c, AMPA receptors don’t recycle to the surface at synapses at the rate they normally do. This adversely impacts synaptic plasticity, the process by which neurons adjust the strength of their connections. Such pathology may play a role in X-linked mental retardation. Credit Cold spring Harbor Laboratory. #neuroscience #genetics
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 19:17:39 +0000
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