09-07-2007, 05:48 PM
And fruit flies:-
Quote:
Fruit Flies Help Scientists Better Understand the Cause of Autism
By Regina Sass CLOUT INDEX
Published Sep 06, 2007
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Communication between nerve cells, called neurons, is essential for humans to complete even the simplest physical or mental tasks, putting one foot in front of another or remembering where we put something for instance. They communicate with each other by contacting at points call synapses. When the connections become damaged, communication stops and the messages never get delivered.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has discovered that there is a protein called neurexin that must be there or else the nerve cell connections do not form and/or function properly.
The researchers worked with Drosophila fruit flies and they hope the results will enable scientists to gain a better understanding of autism spectrum disorders. It is already known that human newrexin are a genetic risk factor for autism.
There was previous research done using mice, but that did not produce results. Mice have a total of three different genes code that produce certain neurexin proteins. When one of them was deleted, there were no effects and when all three were removed, the mice died. Fruit flies, on the other hand, only have one gene for neurexin. When they deleted the gene, the flies survived but only barely
But fruit flies have only one gene for neurexin, and when Bhat and colleagues deleted the gene, the flies survived - barely and with a damaged nervous system. The first thing the noticed was that the flies had trouble moving. The researchers took a look at the synapses of the flies and they found that they were missing half of them. What was left were deformed, making it impossible for them to send out all the chemical signals that are necessary.
The next step in the research, which is already underway, is going to be to find out what proteins neurexin binds to as well as how they interact with each other and what the exact order of events is that result in the successful organization of the synapses within the nerve cells. They hope that eventually the research will lead to understanding the role of neurexin in functions like learning and memory and thereby finally understanding how defects in this one protein cause disorders such as autism.
The senior author of the study is Dr. Manzoor Bhat, who is an associate professor of cell and molecular physiology in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center and the UNC Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center. The research was led by Jingjun Li, a graduate student in neurobiology in the UNC School of Medicine. Co-authors include James Ashley and Vivian Budnik from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The research was funded in part by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Mental Health and funds from the state of North Carolina.
Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.newswise.com/
By Regina Sass CLOUT INDEX
Published Sep 06, 2007
Click to contact me
Communication between nerve cells, called neurons, is essential for humans to complete even the simplest physical or mental tasks, putting one foot in front of another or remembering where we put something for instance. They communicate with each other by contacting at points call synapses. When the connections become damaged, communication stops and the messages never get delivered.
New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine has discovered that there is a protein called neurexin that must be there or else the nerve cell connections do not form and/or function properly.
The researchers worked with Drosophila fruit flies and they hope the results will enable scientists to gain a better understanding of autism spectrum disorders. It is already known that human newrexin are a genetic risk factor for autism.
There was previous research done using mice, but that did not produce results. Mice have a total of three different genes code that produce certain neurexin proteins. When one of them was deleted, there were no effects and when all three were removed, the mice died. Fruit flies, on the other hand, only have one gene for neurexin. When they deleted the gene, the flies survived but only barely
But fruit flies have only one gene for neurexin, and when Bhat and colleagues deleted the gene, the flies survived - barely and with a damaged nervous system. The first thing the noticed was that the flies had trouble moving. The researchers took a look at the synapses of the flies and they found that they were missing half of them. What was left were deformed, making it impossible for them to send out all the chemical signals that are necessary.
The next step in the research, which is already underway, is going to be to find out what proteins neurexin binds to as well as how they interact with each other and what the exact order of events is that result in the successful organization of the synapses within the nerve cells. They hope that eventually the research will lead to understanding the role of neurexin in functions like learning and memory and thereby finally understanding how defects in this one protein cause disorders such as autism.
The senior author of the study is Dr. Manzoor Bhat, who is an associate professor of cell and molecular physiology in the UNC School of Medicine and a member of the UNC Neuroscience Center and the UNC Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center. The research was led by Jingjun Li, a graduate student in neurobiology in the UNC School of Medicine. Co-authors include James Ashley and Vivian Budnik from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
The research was funded in part by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of Mental Health and funds from the state of North Carolina.
Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.newswise.com/
