A sensor that allows researchers to see signalling events between individual neurons may bring us a step closer to unravelling the mystery of how the brain processes information, according to an article to be published online in Nature Methods.
We know the main players in information processing in the mammalian brain - neurons that form networks and communicate in distinct patterns - but the trick is to detect individual signalling events in single cells within these large networks. Scientists have attempted to study the patterns of communication between individual neurons in live animals for many years.
Griesback and colleagues successfully expressed a fluorescent protein-based sensor in the neurons of mice and showed that it was sensitive enough to detect a very low signal, as few as two action potentials, in individual nerve cells. This mouse will be an invaluable tool for deciphering the workings of the mammalian brain as it reveals the detailed patterns of communication between individual brain cells.
Getting things into cells with the aid of small molecules
Nature Methods
Small molecules designed to mimic a-helical peptides can be tethered to cargo and make deliveries into a variety of cell types, as described in an article to be published online this week in Nature Methods.
Cells tightly regulate whom they allow entry, but it is often useful for research or therapeutic purposes to induce the uptake of bulky proteins or hydrophilic molecules, which are normally denied entry. It has been known for some time that certain short a-helical peptides can permeate the cell membrane; however, their application is plagued by high cost and the potential for biodegradation. David Selwood and colleagues now overcome these obstacles by designing small molecules based on this a-helical structure. These new small molecule carriers efficiently transport dye molecules and proteins into several different cell types.
With this report, Selwood and colleagues have introduced a novel strategy for intracellular delivery that could have wide-reaching implications for both basic research and pharmacology, including drug discovery and gene therapy. In an accompanying News & Views piece, Alain Prochiantz notes that this work may lead to the "the discovery of [other small molecule] mimics and to the development of efficient strategies to reach intracellular targets".
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