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Nervous System

A fitness pill. Credit: The Science website via DALEE

New 'workout pill' can cause fitness benefits without exercise

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Researchers report new compounds that appear to be able to mimic the physical drive of exercise—at least in rodent cells. This discovery could lead to a new way to treat muscular dystrophy and other medical conditions in humans, including heart failure and neurodegenerative diseases
The molecule that carries with it a message of regeneration You are here Homepage > Publications > Science news in a friendly language > There is something new under the nerve Share tags Michael Feinzilbermike Feinzilber molecular neurobiology biomolecular sciences nervous system nerve cells communication between nerve cells Like geckos regrowing their tails, the nerve cell extensions in the peripheral nervous system also know how to regenerate after an injury. Unfortunately, the nerve cells of the central nervous system, i.e. the brain and spinal cord, have a much more limited ability to regenerate. Accordingly, diseases that lead to the degeneration and death of nerve cells in the brain, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS, are irreversible and incurable. What exactly gives the peripheral system - the one that connects the brain and the spinal cord to the body's organs - an increased capacity for regeneration? A new study by Weizmann Institute of Science scientists reveals that a protein, which until now has only been observed during embryonic development, has a key role in the regeneration of mature nerve cells of the peripheral nervous system. When embryonic cells differentiate into adult cells, the composition of the proteins they produce changes. In the case of nerve cells, it was common to think that a decrease in the levels of a protein called PTBP1 in embryonic cells is a key part of their transformation into mature cells of the nervous system. Previous studies have even shown that upon completion of the differentiation process and the transformation of the embryonic cells into mature nerve cells of the central nervous system, the production of the protein stops altogether. In recent years, these findings have led research groups to try to reproduce this process in the laboratory: to lower the PTBP1 protein levels in cells that are not nerve cells and thus produce mature nerve cells from them. The hope was that it would be possible to apply this method to patients with neurodegenerative diseases and to produce new nerve cells for them. From the right: Dr. Rinat Nebo, Dr. Natalya Okladnikov, Dr. Agustina Di Physio, Philip Freund, Dr. Ida Rischel, Prof. Michael (Mike) Feinzilber and Pierluigi Di Matteo However, in a new study, led by the researcher PhD candidate Dr. Stephanie Alber and doctoral student Pierluigi Di Matteo from the research group of Prof. Michael (Mike) Feinzylver in the Departments of Biomolecular Sciences and Molecular Neurobiology at the institute, it was surprisingly discovered that the PTBP1 protein is expressed not only in embryonic cells that have not yet undergone differentiation, but also in mature nerve cells - although not nerve cells of the central nervous system, but yes of the peripheral one. The researchers discovered this completely by accident, while studying processes in the sciatic nerve of mice, nerves that leave the spine and reach the foot. The original experiment carried out by the researchers was aimed at finding molecules that regulate the rate of production of another protein called KPNB1 - "postcarriage" - responsible for carrying most of the messages transmitted from the distant extensions of the nerve cells to the cell nucleus. Among its other functions, the KPNB1 protein is responsible for signaling to the cell nucleus that a nerve branch is injured, so that the cell can regenerate it. However, before the mail car can set off and carry messages from the branches to the nucleus, the cell is required to launch messenger RNA molecules that contain the "recipe" for the production of the mail car in the opposite path (from the nucleus to the branches). On the way or when arriving at the destination, other molecules may bind to the messenger, delaying or speeding it up and thus controlling the rate of production of the mail car. The surprising discovery in the new study was that not only was PTBP1 present in the mature cells, but it also bound tightly to the messenger RNA of the mail car. But does and how does it affect its production and the regeneration of nerve cells? "Tens of millions of people around the world suffer from diseases that lead to the degeneration and death of nerve cells in the brain. In order to understand why the central nervous system fails in its attempt to regenerate after an injury, we must first understand how the peripheral nervous system succeeds in doing so." To answer this question, the scientists followed the nerve cells' response to the injury and noticed that after three days the levels of PTBP1 in the cell began to rise and within A week they reached record levels. With the increase in PTBP1 levels, the researchers noticed that the nerve cell extensions begin to regenerate. Sequencing the messenger RNA molecules that bound to PTBP1 after the injury revealed that the protein binds not only to the messenger RNA molecules of the mail car, but also to other proteins that play a role in nerve regeneration. Dr. Stephanie Alber To continue investigating the activity of PTBP1 in adult cells, the researchers removed it from the cells through genetic engineering, and showed that as a result, the regeneration of nerve cells of the "alarm receptor" type - cells whose role is to transmit a sensation of pain in response to a harmful stimulus that could damage the tissue - was impaired. The scientists also examined whether silencing the gene had additional effects and discovered that it increased the sensitivity to mechanical stimuli and heat. In an attempt to deepen the understanding of how PTBP1 affects the regeneration of nerve cells, the researchers examined whether it also affects another protein, RHOA - an important "control switch" in the process of differentiation and regeneration of nerve cells. When the RHOA protein is produced at high levels, it acts as a sort of off switch that inhibits cell growth. The researchers discovered that PTBP1 suppresses the production of the control switch in the extensions of the nerve cells, thus enabling their growth and regeneration. These findings strengthen the possibility that the production of PTBP1 in peripheral nerve cells is what enables their efficient regeneration, unlike in the central nervous system. Sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system in culture.

There is a new one under the sadness

The molecule that carries with it a message of regeneration
Prof. Michal Schwartz. Photo: Weizmann Institute Spokesperson

Prof. Michal Schwartz from the Weizmann Institute won the Israel Prize for research on the relationship between the immune system and the nervous system

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Prof. Schwartz challenged the convention that nerve cells do not regenerate or recover, and discovered that the immune system also takes care of them. She also studied the blood-brain barrier and discovered that it prevents the cells of the immune system from helping in cases of brain damage such as Alzheimer's
The silicone sheet as it appears before it is wrapped around the heart or nerve tissue. The colors you see are due to the porosity of the surface - nanoholes that refract and absorb the different wavelengths of light in an inhomogeneous manner, which causes the different colors of the rainbow to appear. Photo: Dr. Hami Rotenberg's laboratory courtesy of the Technion spokesperson

A therapeutic window to the nervous system

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A new material developed by researchers at the Technion and the University of Chicago is expected to optimize medical treatments and accelerate the use of renewable energies
neurons. Illustration: depositphotos.com

New insights into the connections between nerve cells in the brain

Dr. Shai Sabah from the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University, one of the leaders of the research published in Neuron: "The popular opinion was that each nerve cell functions as an independent entity. In contrast, we now understand that each of the synapses (junctions through which signals pass between cells) functions independently, meaning that each cell has hundreds or thousands of independent synapses
Prof. Orit Shafi from the Faculty of Engineering in Bar Ilan Photo by Chen Demari

Prof. Orit Shafi from Bar Ilan won a grant of one and a half million dollars

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Four universities from around the world are cooperating with the goal of researching the nervous system: from Japan, the USA and Italy. Prof. Orit Shafi from the Faculty of Engineering in Bar Ilan: "It's a great privilege to be chosen out of 700 candidates"
Confocal microscopy image of peripheral nervous system sensory neurons in culture. Courtesy of the Weizmann Institute

A new approach to the development of chronic pain treatment

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Proof that drugs already approved for other purposes can be used to treat chronic pain sufferers. Since the safety of these compounds has been proven in humans, clinical trials for the new use are already possible in the near future.
Confocal microscopy image of sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system in culture (the cells and their extensions are marked in red). You can see in the neurons a combination of colors (blue-red-green) created as a result of marking the cell nuclei in blue and marking the transcription factor c-Fos in green. The scientists discovered that c-Fos is introduced into the nuclei by means of importin alpha-3 (the blue markings around - nuclei of other types of cells that are also in the culture)

A new approach to the development of chronic pain treatment

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For the first time, the mechanism that creates an electrical pulse in a nerve cell was documented. Prof. Igor Shapiro, Hebrew University

For the first time, the mechanism that creates an electrical pulse in a nerve cell was documented

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Wrinkled fingers. Photo: Brenderous, Wikimedia

Things people know: why do fingers wrinkle in water?

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autism. Illustration: shutterstock

The social life of nerve cells

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the blood-brain barrier. Photo: Ben Brahim Mohammed via Wikimedia Commons

Researchers have grown a human blood-brain barrier outside the body, in a way that makes it possible to predict the penetration of drugs into the brain in a customized way  

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Regrowth of nerve cell extensions surrounded by glial cells (cell nuclei are marked in blue), in the sciatic nerve of a mouse, seven days after injury (top) and 25 days after it (bottom). In mice without Silc1 (left column), the restoration is less powerful - the regrown nerve cell extensions (red) are shorter than in mice with an active Silc1 copy. Photographed using a fluorescence microscope

The gene plays a crucial role in nerve cell repair

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In genetically modified mice, which lack the importin alpha-5 protein (right), the MeCP2 molecule (in red), which affects anxious behavior, remains outside the nucleus (in blue) of the nerve cells in the brain, and does not penetrate into it as in normal mice (left). Computer processing of an image that was taken using a confocal microscope. Weizmann Institute

There is no entry for anxiety

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MRI scan of an ALS patient. Source: Frank Gaillard, Wikimedia.

New drugs for ALS are on their way to clinical trials

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A general view of nerve fibers stretching from cells in the forebrain of a mouse demonstrates the advantages of the hydrogel method that allows researchers to follow the complex neural wiring. Source: Dysroth Laboratory, Stanford University.

A look into the transparent mind

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Neurons of a mouse embryo grown in a Petri dish. The axons, the extensions of the nerve cells, are the green extensions in the picture. Source: NIH.

A little less, a little more

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Imaging the lobes of the human brain. Source: Wikimedia / Allan Ajifo.

Viruses invade the brain

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Development of the nervous system in the fetus

Anger Management

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The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. From Wikipedia

Why hacking the nervous system could be the next big medical treatment?

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A lamb scratches its back on a tree trunk. Photo: shutterstock

Tingling, itching and God forbid / Andrea Alfonso

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Nervous System. Illustration: shutterstock

to "hack" the nervous system

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Spinal injury. Illustration: shutterstock

A drug that may restore spinal cord injuries

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Leslie Bo, an amputee who was able to operate two robotic arms in Bo Zenamit for the first time. Photo: Johns Hopkins University

With tilted arms - researchers were able to enable two amputated hands to operate bionic hands

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The first prosthetic arm that connects directly to the body and provides a sense of touch

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