To cover the receptive field completely and non-redundantly, neurons of certain functional groups arrange tiling of their dendrites. In Drosophila class IV dendrite arborization (da) neurons, the NDR family kinase Tricornered (Trc) is required for homotypic repulsion of dendrites that facilitates dendritic tiling. We here report that Sin1, Rictor, and target of rapamycin (TOR), components of th...

Nerve growth factor is known to stimulate neurite outgrowth and support neuronal survival during embryonic development. We have studied the expression of the nerve growth factor receptor, TrkA, at both mRNA and protein levels during the course of chicken retinal development. Furthermore, we have compared the expression of trkA mRNA with that of the 75-kD low-affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75N...

Using Illumina 450K arrays, 1.85% of all analyzed CpG sites were significantly hypermethylated and 0.31% hypomethylated in fetal Down syndrome (DS) cortex throughout the genome. The methylation changes on chromosome 21 appeared to be balanced between hypo- and hyper-methylation, whereas, consistent with prior reports, all other chromosomes showed 3-11 times more hyper- than hypo-methylated site...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a lethal disorder characterized by the gradual degeneration of motor neurons in the cerebrospinal axis. Whether upper motor neuron hyperexcitability, which is a feature of ALS, provokes dysfunction of glutamate metabolism and degeneration of lower motor neurons via an anterograde process is undetermined. To examine whether early changes in upper motor neur...

Abl tyrosine kinase and its effectors among the Rho family of GTPases each act to control dendritic morphogenesis in Drosophila. It has not been established, however, which of the many GTPase regulators in the cell link these signaling molecules in the dendrite. In axons, the bifunctional guanine exchange factor, Trio, is an essential link between the Abl tyrosine kinase signaling pathway and R...

objective(s):growing evidence indicates that extract of ginkgo biloba (egb) attenuates hippocampal-dependent memory deficit in aged individuals; however, very little is known about the effect of egb on the structure of hippocampus. therefore we examined the egb-induced morphological changes of the cornu ammonis (ca) region in aged rats. materials and methods: sixteen aged male wistar rats, 24 m...

Dendrites are branched neuronal processes that receive input signals from other neurons or the outside world [1]. To maintain connectivity as the organism grows, dendrites must also continue to grow. For example, the dendrites in the peripheral nervous system continue to grow and branch to maintain proper coverage of their receptor fields [2, 3, 4, 5]. One such neuron is the Drosophila melanoga...

The class-specific transcription factors Knot and Cut act during dendrite arbor development to define the characteristic dendrite branching pattern of the Drosophila class IV dendritic arborisation sensory neurons. Knot mediates dendrite arbor outgrowth and branching via a microtubule-based program that includes upregulation of the microtubule severing protein Spastin. On the other hand, Cut pr...