• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Saturday, August 2, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Neuroscience

Neuroscience’s grand question

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
May 21, 2014
in Neuroscience
Reading Time: 2 mins read
1
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Neurons live for many years but their components, the proteins and molecules that make up the cell are continually being replaced. How this continuous rebuilding takes place without affecting our ability to think, remember, learn or otherwise experience the world is one of neuroscience’s biggest questions.

Neuroscience's grand question

Eve Marder Professor of Neuroscience Photo credit: Mike Lovett.

And it’s one that has long intrigued Eve Marder, the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Neuroscience. As reported in Neuron on May 21, Marder’s lab has built a new theoretical model to understand how cells monitor and self-regulate their properties in the face of continual turnover of cellular components.

Ion channels, the molecular gates on the surface of cells, determine neuronal properties needed to regulate everything from the size and speed of limb movement to how sensory information is processed. Different combinations of types of ion channels are found in each kind of neuron. Receptors are the molecular ‘microphones’ that enable neurons to communicate with each other.

Receptors and ion channels are constantly turning over, so cells need to regulate the rate at which they are replaced in a way that avoids disrupting normal nervous system function. Scientists have considered the idea of a ‘factory’ or ‘default’ setting for the numbers of ion channels and receptors in each neuron. But this idea seems implausible because there is so much change in a neuron’s environment over the course of its life.

If there is no factory setting, then neurons need an internal gauge to monitor electrical activity and adjust ion channel expression accordingly, the team asserts. Because a single neuron is always part of a larger circuit, it also needs to do this while maintaining homeostasis across the nervous system.

The Marder lab built a new theoretical model of ion channel regulation based on the concept of an internal monitoring system. The team, comprised of postdoctoral fellow Timothy O’Leary, lab technician Alex Williams, Alessio Franci, of the University of Liege in Belgium, and Marder, discovered that cells don’t need to measure every detail of activity to keep the system functioning. In fact, too much detail can derail the process.

“Certain target properties can contradict each other,” O’Leary says. “You would not set your air conditioning to 64 degrees and your heat to 77 degrees. One might win over the other but they would be continually fighting each other and you would end up paying a big energy bill.”

The team also learned that cells can have similar properties but different ion channel expression rates — like cellular homophones, they sound alike but look very different.

The model showed that the very internal monitoring system designed to control runaway electrical activity can actually lead to neuronal hyperexcitability, the basis of seizures. Even if set points are maintained in single neurons, overall homeostasis in the system can be lost.

The study represents an important advance in understanding the most complex machinery ever built — the human brain. And it may lead to entirely different therapeutic strategies for treating diseases, O’Leary says. “To understand and cure some diseases, we need to pick apart and understand how biological systems control their internal properties when they are in a normal healthy state, and this model could help researchers do that.”

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Brandeis University, Leah Burrows.

Share13Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Redox biomarker could predict progression of epilepsy

October 5, 2016
blank

Neural membrane’s structural instability may trigger multiple sclerosis

October 5, 2016

Scientists find new path in brain to ease depression

October 5, 2016

Key players responsible for learning and memory formation uncovered

October 3, 2016
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12
  • Neuropsychiatric Risks Linked to COVID-19 Revealed

    40 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • Study Reveals Beta-HPV Directly Causes Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Individuals

    38 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 10

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Impact of Morphology and Location on Aneurysms

Unraveling EMT’s Role in Colorectal Cancer Spread

Gut γδ T17 Cells Drive Brain Inflammation via STING

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.