Article Abstract:
Researchers found that axons have the ability to integrate recent changes in membrane potential and change from behaving as simple electric cables conducting actions potentials. Scientists previously thought that only neuronal dendrites and cell bodies had this ability. The researchers demonstrated the ability by making intracellular recordings from pairs of pyramidal cells in hippocampal slice cultures. They found that brief hyperpolarization impaired the transmission of action potentials, but only if this occurred less than 20 ms before the triggering of the presynaptic action potential.
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Article Abstract:
The preferential addition of plasma membrane proteins to axonal growth cones generates its polarized distribution. The lymphocyte transmembrane protein CD8-alpha obtained from the cultured rat hippocampal is preferentially inserted at the growth cones resulting in a distal to proximal gradient of CD8-alpha along the axonal surface. The expression of proteins from viral vectors may be helpful in recognizing populations of transport vesicles and their trafficking.
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Article Abstract:
Development of the nervous system relies on the growth cone's pathfinding and target recognition capabilities. Research shows that the differing cyclic-AMP-dependent activity in neurons could lead to the opposite turning of the growth cone. An attractive turning response of the growth cone of Xenopus spinal neurons is triggered by brain-derived neurotrophic factors. The cAMP-dependent switch of the turning response was found for acetylcholine induced turning.
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