Neural Cell News Volume 14.06 | Feb 19 2020

TOP STORY

Dopaminergic Transmission Rapidly and Persistently Enhances Excitability of D1 Receptor-Expressing Striatal Projection Neurons

Investigators demonstrated that dopaminergic transmission potently increased D1 receptor-expressing striatal projection neuron excitability with a time course that could support subsecond and sustained behavioral control. [Neuron] Abstract

(Ranked by impact factor of the journal)

MYCN Amplification and ATRX Mutations Are Incompatible in Neuroblastoma

Investigators showed that ATRX mutations and MYCN amplification were mutually exclusive across all ages and stages in neuroblastoma. Using human cell lines and mouse models, they found that elevated MYCN expression and ATRX mutations were incompatible. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Pyridoxine Induces Glutathione Synthesis via PKM2-Mediated Nrf2 Transactivation and Confers Neuroprotection

Scientists report that the astrocytic dopamine D2 receptor regulated glutathione (GSH) synthesis via PKM2-mediated Nrf2 transactivation. In addition, they found that pyridoxine could dimerize PKM2 to promote GSH biosynthesis. [Nat Commun] Full Article

Inhibition of Colony Stimulating Factor 1 Receptor Corrects Maternal Inflammation-Induced Microglial and Synaptic Dysfunction and Behavioral Abnormalities

Maternal immune activation (MIA) increased plastic dendritic spines of the intrinsically bursting neurons and their interaction with hyper-ramified microglia. Treating MIA offspring by colony stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitors induced depletion and repopulation of microglia. [Mol Psychiatry] Full Article

β-Arrestin2 Oligomers Impair the Clearance of Pathological Tau and Increase Tau Aggregates

Genetic loss and overexpression experiments using genetically encoded reporters and defined mutant constructs in vitro, and in cell lines, primary neurons, and tau P301S mice crossed with β-arrestin2^-/- mice, showed that β-arrestin2 stabilized pathogenic tau and promoted tau aggregation. [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA] Abstract

Glioma-Derived miRNA-Containing Extracellular Vesicles Induce Angiogenesis by Reprogramming Brain Endothelial Cells

To further elucidate extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated mechanisms of neovascularization in vitro, scientists performed RNA-seq and DNA methylation profiling of human brain endothelial cells exposed to glioblastoma stem cell-EVs. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

A Highly Conserved Circular RNA Is Required to Keep Neural Cells in a Progenitor State in the Mammalian Brain

Knockdown of a highly conserved circRNA in a human neuroblastoma cell line was sufficient to induce spontaneous neuronal differentiation, measurable by increased expression of neuronal marker genes. [Cell Rep] Full Article | Graphical Abstract

Pharmacological Enhancement of TFEB-Mediated Autophagy Alleviated Neuronal Death in Oxidative Stress-Induced Parkinson’s Disease Models

Investigators report that autophagy was triggered via mucolipin 1/calcium/calcineurin/transcription factor EB pathway upon oxidative stress induced by 6-hydroxydopamine/ascorbic acid. [Cell Death Dis] Full Article

Neural Stem Cell Phenotype of Tanycyte-Like Ependymal Cells in the Circumventricular Organs and Central Canal of Adult Mouse Brain

The authors showed that tanycyte-like ependymal cells in the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis, subfornical organ and central canal, expressed neural stem cell marker nestin, glial fibrillar acidic protein and sex determining region Y. [Sci Rep] Full Article

A Co-Culture Nanofibre Scaffold Model of Neural Cell Degeneration in Relevance to Parkinson’s Disease

Scientists characterized the growth, survival and response to Parkinson’s disease mimetics of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma and U-87MG glioblastoma cell lines cultured on polyacrylonitrile and Jeffamine^® doped polyacrylonitrile nano-scaffolds. [Sci Rep] Full Article

Beta Amyloid Aggregates Induce Sensitised TLR4 Signaling Causing Long-Term Potentiation Deficit and Rat Neuronal Cell Death

Researchers found that picomolar concentrations of soluble oligomers of synthetic beta amyloid aggregates incubated with BV2 cells or rat astrocytes caused a sensitised response of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) with time. [Commun Biol] Full Article

Subscribe to one of our other 19 science newsletters such as Cancer Stem Cell News & ESC & iPSC News.

Potential Microglia-Based Interventions for Stroke

The authors review the dynamic microglial reactions caused by aging, sex, and crosstalk with neighboring cells both in normal conditions and after stroke and relevant potential interventions. [CNS Neurosci Ther] Full Article

Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the neural cell research field.

DelMar Pharmaceuticals Enrolls Final Patient in Phase II Clinical Trial of VAL-083 For First-Line Treatment of Brain Tumors

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has enrolled and begun dosing the final patient in its ongoing Phase II clinical study investigating the first-line treatment of VAL-083 with radiation therapy in newly-diagnosed, MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma multiforme. [DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] Press Release

Annovis Bio Announces Update on Phase II Clinical Trial for Alzheimer’s Disease

Annovis Bio Inc. announced that the Data Safety Monitoring Board has reviewed the safety data, enrollment, participant status, demographic data and vital signs of patients enrolled in their Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and unanimously supported that the study, which is named DISCOVER, continue without modification. [Annovis Bio Inc. (GlobeNewswire, Inc.)] Press Release

The Next Chapter for African Genomics

Nigeria is poised to become a hub for genetics research, but a few stubborn challenges block the way. [Nature News] Editorial

‘The Disruption Is Enormous.’ Coronavirus Epidemic Snarls Science Worldwide

Normal daily life has come to a virtual standstill in large parts of China as a result of the epidemic of COVID-19—and so has science. Universities across the country remain closed; access to labs is restricted, projects have been mothballed, field work interrupted, and travel severely curtailed. [ScienceInsider] Editorial

NEW American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2020
April 24-29, 2020
San Diego, California, United States

Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the community.

NEW Postdoctoral Associate – Traumatic Brain Injury (University of Miami)

Postdoctoral Position – Neurodevelopment and Brain Tumors (Mount Sinai)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Translational Brain Tumor Research (Northwestern University)

Branch Chief – Neuroscience Research (National Institutes of Health)

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – Neuroscience and Stem Cells (Black Family Stem Cell Institute)

Faculty Position – Neuroimmunology (St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital)

Postdoctoral Fellow – Vascular Dysfunction in Neurodegeneration (Translational Neurology Group)

Postdoctoral Research Positions – Alzheimer’s Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury (University of Colorado Boulder)

Postdoctoral Researcher – Neurodegenerative Diseases and Cancer (University of Pennsylvania)

Postdoctoral Associate – Neuron Diversity Mechanisms in Brain Development (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)

Postdoctoral Associate – Glia and Neuron Interaction (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)

Faculty Positions – Brain Disorders (IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research)

Recruit Top Talent: Reach potential candidates by posting your organization’s career opportunities on the Connexon Creative Job Board at no cost.

Have we missed an important article or publication in Neural Cell News? Click here to submit!

Comments or suggestions? Submit your feedback here.