The protein is the reeling, basic in the development and the neuronal plasticity. This molecule is found modified in mice that suffer a spontaneous mutation in their gene, known as ‘reeler mice’. The study has been developed in collaboration with the Institute of Neuroscience of Helsinki. The progress opens the possibility of applications with therapeutic purposes to recover brain functions or avoid damage.
According to the research team on Psychiatry and Neurodegenerative diseases of the Universitat de València and the INCLIVA, the reeling could help to mature and incorporate neurons to the cerebral adult cortex. These are the preliminary conclusions of a study carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Neuroscience of Helsinki, and it has been recently published in the prestigious international journal ‘Frontiers Cell Neuroscience’.
According to Juan Nácher, one of the researchers, ‘the project investigated the role of reeling in the differentiation of immature neurons in the brain adult cortex’ The professor of the Department of Cellular Biology of the Universitat de València has stated that ‘reeling is an essential protein for the brain cortex plasticity. Plasticity is the capacity of the nervous system to adapt to the environment, changing its structure and its functioning; it allows neurons to remodel themselves both anatomic and functionally and forming new connexions’.
The research group of INCLIVA-UV was the first one in proving that some neurons generated during the embryonic development kept immature characteristic during the adult life. It points out that, in human beings, this cells are found widely distributed through the brain cortex and previous studies in the group of mice show that, progressively, these neurons seem to mature and incorporate to the brain circuit.
Nácher declares that ‘one of the main concepts of our research is to find molecules that contribute to control the maturing of these neurons and its incorporation to the brain circuits. In this project we start from the assumption that reeling was a potential candidate to be a molecule that participates in a critic way in neuronal migration and differentiation during the development.’
‘This molecule is found modified in mice that suffer a spontaneous mutation in their gene and they known as “reeler mice”, from reel, a fast Scottish dance, because of their characteristic way of walking’, goes on. Previous studies have already proved that the absence of reeling produces serious alterations in the positioning and development of the neurons in different brain areas. In fact, several studies have related alterations in reeling with different diseases that are associated with the development of the nervous system, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or autism.
The research, developed in an animal model, has confirmed that a big number of neurons that express reeling are located near the immature neurons and that the latter have receptors for this protein. Therefore, in the researchers view, it could influence in its maturing.
Nácher concludes that the results can be the basis of experiments directed to determinate if by activating the action of reeling in the immature cells these could developed. This would mean to count on a possible reservoir of neurons in the adult brain, which could be used with therapeutic purposes, to recover certain brain functions or to avoid its damage.
Article:
Carceller H, Rovira-Esteban L, Nacher J, Castrén E and Guirado R (2016) ‘Neurochemical Phenotype of Reelin Immunoreactive Cells in the Piriform Cortex Layer II’. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 10:65. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2016.0006
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fncel.2016.00065/full
Last update: 5 de may de 2016 10:54.
News release
