In the central nervous system, oligodendrocytes synthesize vast amounts of myelin, a multilamellar membrane wrapped around axons that dramatically enhances nerve transmission. A complex apparatus appears to coordinate trafficking of proteins and lipids during myelin synthesis, but the molecular interactions involved are not well understood. We demonstrate that oligodendrocytes express several k...

CASK-interacting nucleosome assembly protein (CINAP) has been shown to interact with the calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine kinase (CASK) and the T-box transcription factor T-brain-1 (Tbr1) thus modulating the expression of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor subunit 2b (NMDAR2b) in cultured hippocampal neurons. To explore the physiological significance of CINAP in vivo, CINAP knockout mice were...

Formation, differentiation, and plasticity of synapses require interactions between pre- and postsynaptic partners. Recently, it was shown that the transmembrane immunoglobulin superfamily protein SYG-1 is required for providing synaptic specificity in C. elegans. However, it is unclear whether the mammalian orthologs of SYG-1 are also involved in local cell interactions to determine specificit...

Effector molecules such as calmodulin modulate the interactions of membrane-associated guanylate kinase homologs (MAGUKs) and other scaffolding proteins of the membrane cytoskeleton by binding to the Src homology 3 (SH3) domain, the guanylate kinase (GK) domain, or the connecting HOOK region of MAGUKs. Using surface plasmon resonance, we studied the interaction of members of all four MAGUK subf...

Differential expression of cell adhesion molecules regulates stem cell location, self-renewal and lineage selection under steady state conditions and during tissue repair. We show that the intercellular adhesion protein nectin-like molecule 2 (Necl2) is highly expressed in bulge stem cells of adult human and mouse hair follicles. Overexpression of Necl2 in cultured human keratinocytes led to up...

To reproduce a highly realistic sound field reproduction, we have developed a three dimensional sound reproduction system based on the boundary surface control principle. We set up an Internet connection among multiple systems, which enables distant speakers to carry out voice telecommunication by simultaneously hearing the same sound field and perceiving the other speakers' simulated positions...