scholarly journals Lipid droplets in the nervous system

2021 ◽  
Vol 220 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isha Ralhan ◽  
Chi-Lun Chang ◽  
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz ◽  
Maria S. Ioannou

Lipid droplets are dynamic intracellular lipid storage organelles that respond to the physiological state of cells. In addition to controlling cell metabolism, they play a protective role for many cellular stressors, including oxidative stress. Despite prior descriptions of lipid droplets appearing in the brain as early as a century ago, only recently has the role of lipid droplets in cells found in the brain begun to be understood. Lipid droplet functions have now been described for cells of the nervous system in the context of development, aging, and an increasing number of neuropathologies. Here, we review the basic mechanisms of lipid droplet formation, turnover, and function and discuss how these mechanisms enable lipid droplets to function in different cell types of the nervous system under healthy and pathological conditions.

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2507
Author(s):  
Carla Mucignat-Caretta

The brain may be affected by a variety of tumors of different grade, which originate from different cell types at distinct locations, thus impacting on the brain structure and function [...]


STEMedicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. e9
Author(s):  
Cenfeng Chu ◽  
Guisheng Zhong ◽  
Hui Li

Cytoskeleton plays an essential role in many functions in different cells and has been involved in the pathogenesis of many neural diseases. With the development of super-resolution fluorescence imaging technologies, which combine the molecular specificity and simple sample preparation of fluorescence microscopy and provide a spatial resolution comparable to that of electron microscopy, numerous new features have been revealed in the cytoskeletal organization of the subcortical cytoskeleton. A novel periodic lattice cytoskeleton is prevalent in different cell types throughout the nervous system. Here, we review the current studies of the molecular distribution, developmental mechanisms, and functional properties of the periodic cytoskeleton structure.


Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Petra Korać ◽  
Mariastefania Antica ◽  
Maja Matulić

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA involved in the regulation of specific mRNA translation. They participate in cellular signaling circuits and can act as oncogenes in tumor development, so-called oncomirs, as well as tumor suppressors. miR-7 is an ancient miRNA involved in the fine-tuning of several signaling pathways, acting mainly as tumor suppressor. Through downregulation of PI3K and MAPK pathways, its dominant role is the suppression of proliferation and survival, stimulation of apoptosis and inhibition of migration. Besides these functions, it has numerous additional roles in the differentiation process of different cell types, protection from stress and chromatin remodulation. One of the most investigated tissues is the brain, where its downregulation is linked with glioblastoma cell proliferation. Its deregulation is found also in other tumor types, such as in liver, lung and pancreas. In some types of lung and oral carcinoma, it can act as oncomir. miR-7 roles in cell fate determination and maintenance of cell homeostasis are still to be discovered, as well as the possibilities of its use as a specific biotherapeutic.


Biomolecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1361
Author(s):  
Agnieszka M. Jurga ◽  
Martyna Paleczna ◽  
Justyna Kadluczka ◽  
Katarzyna Z. Kuter

The idea of central nervous system as one-man band favoring neurons is long gone. Now we all are aware that neurons and neuroglia are team players and constant communication between those various cell types is essential to maintain functional efficiency and a quick response to danger. Here, we summarize and discuss known and new markers of astroglial multiple functions, their natural heterogeneity, cellular interactions, aging and disease-induced dysfunctions. This review is focused on newly reported facts regarding astrocytes, which are beyond the old stereotypes. We present an up-to-date list of marker proteins used to identify a broad spectrum of astroglial phenotypes related to the various physiological and pathological nervous system conditions. The aim of this review is to help choose markers that are well-tailored for specific needs of further experimental studies, precisely recognizing differential glial phenotypes, or for diagnostic purposes. We hope it will help to categorize the functional and structural diversity of the astroglial population and ease a clear readout of future experimental results.


‘Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology’ covers the anatomy and organization of the central nervous system, including the skull and cervical vertebrae, the meninges, the blood and lymphatic vessels, muscles and nerves of the head and neck, and the structures of the eye, ear, and central nervous system. At a cellular level, the different cell types and the mechanism of transmission across synapses are considered, including excitatory and inhibitory synapses. This is followed by a review of the major control and sensory systems (including movement, information processing, locomotion, reflexes, and the main five senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell). The integration of these processes into higher functions (such as sleep, consciousness and coma, emotion, memory, and ageing) is discussed, along with the causes and treatments of disorders of diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, addiction, and degenerative diseases.


The Neuron ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 23-38
Author(s):  
Irwin B. Levitan ◽  
Leonard K. Kaczmarek

This chapter examines unique mechanisms that the neuron has evolved to establish and maintain the form required for its specialized signaling functions. Unlike some other organs, the brain contains a variety of cell types including several classes of glial cells, which play a critical role in the formation of the myelin sheath around axons and may be involved in immune responses, synaptic transmission, and long-distance calcium signaling in the brain. Neurons share many features in common with other cells (including glia), but they are distinguished by their highly asymmetrical shapes. The neuronal cytoskeleton is essential for establishing this cell shape during development and for maintaining it in adulthood. The process of axonal transport moves vesicles and other organelles to regions remote from the neuronal cell body. Proteins such as kinesin and dynein, called molecular motors, make use of the energy released by hydrolysis of ATP to drive axonal transport.


Mr . President and Gentlemen, My most pleasant duty to-day is to thank your Council for the honour that it has conferred upon me by inviting me to give the second lecture in memory of the late Sir David Ferrier. I have accepted this invitation with feelings of gratitude, not only to your Council, but also for the contributions made in this country to our knowledge of the structure and function of the nervous system. Among these, the works of Sir David Ferrier, however prominent, only stand out as a conspicuous example of a national tradition, maintained in recent years, both in the Physiology and Anatomy of the brain. The task I have accepted is not an easy one, the less so as the first Ferrier lecture was given by Sir Charles Sherrington who, in both the methods and results of his investigations, attained a degree of exactness at which morphologists aim in vain.


Author(s):  
Christian J. Hendriksz ◽  
Francois Karstens

There are 8 different types of diseases of the mucopolysaccharides, each caused by a deficiency in one of 10 different enzymes involved in the degradation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Partially degraded GAGs accumulate within the lysosomes of many different cell types and lead to clinical symptoms and excretion of large amounts of GAGs in the urine. Heritability is autosomal recessive except for MPS type II, which is X-linked. The disorders are chronic and progressive and, although the specific types all have their individual features, they share an abundance of clinical similarities. All involve the musculoskeletal, the cardiovascular, the pulmonary and the central nervous system.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2850
Author(s):  
Tzachy Morad ◽  
Roni Mina Hendler ◽  
Eyal Canji ◽  
Orly Eva Weiss ◽  
Guy Sion ◽  
...  

Biomaterials, especially when coated with adhesive polymers, are a key tool for restorative medicine, being biocompatible and supportive for cell adherence, growth, and function. Aragonite skeletons of corals are biomaterials that support survival and growth of a range of cell types, including neurons and glia. However, it is not known if this scaffold affects neural cell migration or elongation of neuronal and astrocytic processes, prerequisites for initiating repair of damage in the nervous system. To address this, hippocampal cells were aggregated into neurospheres and cultivated on aragonite skeleton of the coral Trachyphyllia geoffroyi (Coral Skeleton (CS)), on naturally occurring aragonite (Geological Aragonite (GA)), and on glass, all pre-coated with the oligomer poly-D-lysine (PDL). The two aragonite matrices promoted equally strong cell migration (4.8 and 4.3-fold above glass-PDL, respectively) and axonal sprouting (1.96 and 1.95-fold above glass-PDL, respectively). However, CS-PDL had a stronger effect than GA-PDL on the promotion of astrocytic processes elongation (1.7 vs. 1.2-fold above glass-PDL, respectively) and expression of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (3.8 vs. and 1.8-fold above glass-PDL, respectively). These differences are likely to emerge from a reaction of astrocytes to the degree of roughness of the surface of the scaffold, which is higher on CS than on GA. Hence, CS-PDL and GA-PDL are scaffolds of strong capacity to derive neural cell movements and growth required for regeneration, while controlling the extent of astrocytic involvement. As such, implants of PDL-aragonites have significant potential as tools for damage repair and the reduction of scar formation in the brain following trauma or disease.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document