Neurons extend elaborate dendrites studded with spines. Unexpectedly, this cellular sculpting is regulated by the origin recognition complex -- the core machinery for initiating DNA replication.

Recent research has revealed that morphological characteristics of neuronal structure are closely related to normal neural functions such as learning and memory. Neuronal dendrites and their spines define the inter-connectivity of the neural network and hence, are important predictors of its function. Many neuronal functions are observed to be correlated with the appearance or disappearance of ...

The recent use of novel high-resolution imaging methods of living neurons in vitro has led to a change in the view of the dendritic spine, from a stable, long-term memory storage device to that of a dynamic structure, which can undergo fast morphological changes over periods of hours and even minutes. While the functional significance of these changes in spine dimensions is still obscure, we ha...

Kinesin-based transport is important for synaptogenesis, neuroplasticity, and maintaining synaptic function. In an anatomical screen of neurodevelopmental mutants, we identified the exchange of a conserved residue (R561H) in the forkhead-associated domain of the kinesin-3 family member Unc-104/KIF1A as the genetic cause for defects in synaptic terminal- and dendrite morphogenesis. Previous stru...

Cast strips of 0.1mass% C steel with or without phosphorus addition have been characterized by electron back-scattering diffraction pattern (EBSP) measurements. Then the formation of globular ferrite structure was discussed. EBSP analysis combined with optical microscopy clearly showed that a globular grain was fitted to be an -ferrite grain. The EBSP analysis suggested that the retainedgrain g...

The aim of this study was to obtain a better insight into the distribution of active and passive electrical properties of the membranes of al olfactory sensillum. Such a sensillum is composed of three accessory cells which envelope the somata of two receptor neurons which have long (300 micron) dendrites that are incorporated in cuticular protuberances (hairs). An electrical equivalent circuit ...

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate based on fabricated Ag@Au core-shell dendrite was achieved. Ag dendrites were grown on Si wafer by the hydrothermal corrosion method and Au nanofilm on the surface of Ag dendritic nanostructure was then fabricated by chemical reduction. With the help of sodium borohydride in water, Au surface absorbates such as thiophene, adenine, rhodamine, sm...

Layer V pyramidal cells of the somatosensory cortex operate with two spike initiation zones. Sub-threshold depolarizations are strongly attenuated along the apical dendrite linking the somatic and distal dendritic spike initiation zones. Sodium action potentials, on the other hand, are actively back-propagating from the axon hillock into the apical tuft. There they can interact with local excit...