A Shortcut For Communication Between Brain Cells - Understanding How Neurons Communicate May Help Treat Brain Disorders

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 16 Jul 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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For the first time, Weill Cornell scientists have learned important details illustrating how neuronal cells in the brain communicate at a microcellular level. Such knowledge may help in the development of drug compounds used to treat disorders caused by malfunctions in communication between brain cells, such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. Their findings are published in the June 25 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

To communicate between cells, tiny transport vesicles package and ship neurotransmitter-chemicals to the end (terminals) of the cell and then across synapses, or gaps in-between neurons. Adjacent neurons then receive the signal. To do this, these transport-vesicles must be recycled quickly -- especially during boosts in brain activity, but it has never been understood exactly how such critical recycling works.

Observing proteins within cellular vesicles labeled with a fluorescent marker in the lab, for easy identification, the researchers saw that about 20 vesicles can be simultaneously manufactured right at the end of the neuron -- like milk bottles, lined up and waiting to be filled for shipment. The new findings show that calcium ions, which help to send the signal across the synapse to another neuron, also control the cell's ability to rebuild the vesicles at the cell's terminal end.

According to the researchers, the explanation for this cellular feat is a simple matter of distance. "Think of the cell body as New York City and the axon [the long narrow stretch between the cell body and cell terminal] as a highway leading to Boston," explains lead researcher, Dr. Tim Ryan, from the Department of Biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medical College. "It takes far too long for the vesicles to move from all the way in the cell body to another cell. These vesicles are made in New York and slowly transported to the cell's terminal end, but some are made right in Boston for immediate use." Dr. Ryan hopes that by understanding the mechanics of the cellular trafficking machine, he and other scientists will ultimately be able to identify and repair numerous neurologic malfunctions.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, located in New York City, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world, comprising the teaching hospital NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical College, the medical school of Cornell University. NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine, and is committed to excellence in patient care, education, research and community service. Weill Cornell physician-scientists have been responsible for many medical advances -- from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and, most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient. NewYork-Presbyterian, which is ranked sixth on the U.S.News & World Report list of top hospitals, also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion. Weill Cornell Medical College is the first U.S. medical college to offer a medical degree oversees and maintains a strong global presence in Austria, Brazil, Haiti, Tanzania, Turkey and Qatar. For more information, visit http://www.nyp.org and http://www.med.cornell.edu.

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Weill Cornell Medical College