Scientists develop protein with potential to modify brain function, memory in mice and fish

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Scientists at USC have developed a new tool to modify brain activity and memory in targeted ways, without the help of any drugs or chemicals. (Stock image)

Credit: © highwaystarz / Fotolia

Scientists at USC have developed a new tool to modify brain activity and memory in targeted ways, without the help of any drugs or chemicals.

The GFE3 protein may help researchers map the brain's connections and better understand how inhibitory synapses modulate brain function, said lead author Don B. Arnold, a professor of biological sciences at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

It also may enable them to control neural activity and lead to advancements in research for diseases or conditions ranging from schizophrenia to cocaine addiction, Arnold said.

The new tool is a protein that carries a death sentence for synaptic proteins in specific cells. The protein can be encoded in animal genomes to effectively switch off their inhibitory synapses -- connections between neurons -- increasing their electrical activity.

"GFE3 harnesses a little known and remarkable property of proteins within the brain," Arnold said.

The protein takes advantage of an intrinsic process -- the brain's cycle of degrading and replacing proteins. Most brain proteins last only a couple of days before they are actively degraded and replaced by new proteins. GFE3 targets proteins that hold inhibitory synapses together to this degradation system and as a result, the synapses fall apart.

"Rather than a cell deciding when a protein needs to be degraded, we sort of hijack the process," Arnold said.

For the study published in the journal Nature Methods on June 6, the team of scientists studied the protein's effect in both mice and zebrafish. The researchers found that GFE3 protein triggered the neurons on the two sides of the spine to work in opposition, generating uncoordinated movements.

Previously, drugs could be used to inhibit inhibitory synapses in the brain, for instance benzodiazapines, which treat anxiety, insomnia or seizures. But the drugs inhibit all the cells in a particular area, not just the neurons that are the intended target.

"Unfortunately, cells that have very different, even opposite functions tend to be right next to each other in the brain," Arnold said. "Thus, pharmacological experiments are especially difficult to interpret. By encoding GFE3 within the genome, we can target and modulate the inhibitory synapses of specific cells without affecting other cells that have different functions."

Bionic leaf turns sunlight into liquid fuel

New system surpasses efficiency of photosynthesis

The days of drilling into the ground in the search for fuel may be numbered,because if Daniel Nocera has his way, it'll just be a matter of looking for sunny skies.

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A new "bionic leaf" system uses solar energy to produce liquid fuel.

Nocera, the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University, and Pamela Silver, the Elliott T. and Onie H. Adams Professor of Biochemistry and Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School, have co-created a system that uses solar energy to split water molecules and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels.

The paper, whose lead authors include post-doctoral fellow Chong Liu and graduate student Brendan Colón, is described in a June 3 paper published in Science.

"This is a true artificial photosynthesis system," Nocera said. "Before, people were using artificial photosynthesis for water-splitting, but this is a true A-to-Z system, and we've gone well over the efficiency of photosynthesis in nature."

While the study shows the system can be used to generate usable fuels, its potential doesn't end there, said Silver, who is also a Founding Core Member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

"The beauty of biology is it's the world's greatest chemist -- biology can do chemistry we can't do easily," she said. "In principle, we have a platform that can make any downstream carbon-based molecule. So this has the potential to be incredibly versatile."

Dubbed "bionic leaf 2.0," the new system builds on previous work by Nocera, Silver and others, which -- though it was capable of using solar energy to make isopropanol -- faced a number of challenges.

Chief among those challenges, Nocera said, was the fact that the catalyst used to produce hydrogen -- a nickel-molybdenum-zinc alloy -- also created reactive oxygen species, molecules that attacked and destroyed the bacteria's DNA. To avoid that problem, researchers were forced to run the system at abnormally high voltages, resulting in reduced efficiency.

"For this paper, we designed a new cobalt-phosphorus alloy catalyst, which we showed does not make reactive oxygen species," Nocera said. "That allowed us to lower the voltage, and that led to a dramatic increase in efficiency."

The system can now convert solar energy to biomass with 10 percent efficiency, Nocera said, far above the one percent seen in the fastest growing plants.

In addition to increasing the efficiency, Nocera and colleagues were able to expand the portfolio of the system to include isobutanol and isopentanol. Researchers also used the system to create PHB, a bio-plastic precursor, a process first demonstrated by MIT professor Anthony Sinskey.

The new catalyst also came with another advantage -- its chemical design allows it to "self-heal" -- meaning it wouldn't leech material into solution.

"This is the genius of Dan," Silver said. "These catalysts are totally biologically compatible."

Though there may yet be room for additional increases in efficiency, Nocera said the system is already effective enough to consider possible commercial applications but within a different model for technology translation.

"It's an important discovery--it says we can do better than photosynthesis," Nocera said. "But I also want to bring this technology to the developing world as well."

Working in conjunction with the First 100 Watts program at Harvard, which helped fund the research, Nocera hopes to continue developing the technology and its applications in nations like India with the help of their scientists.

In many ways, Nocera said, the new system marks the fulfillment of the promise of his "artificial leaf" -- which used solar power to split water and make hydrogen fuel.

"If you think about it, photosynthesis is amazing," he said. "It takes sunlight, water and air--and then look at a tree. That's exactly what we did, but we do it significantly better, because we turn all that energy into a fuel."

DO YOU WANT TO REGAIN YOUR YOUTH?

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Jennifer Lemon, Research Associate, Department of Biology, McMaster University.

Credit: McMaster University

A dietary supplement containing a blend of thirty vitamins and minerals -- all natural ingredients widely available in health food stores -- has shown remarkable anti-aging properties that can prevent and even reverse massive brain cell loss, according to new research from McMaster University.

It's a mixture scientists believe could someday slow the progress of catastrophic neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, ALS and Parkinson's.

"The findings are dramatic," says Jennifer Lemon, research associate in the Department of Biology and a lead author of the study. "Our hope is that this supplement could offset some very serious illnesses and ultimately improve quality of life."

The formula, which contains common ingredients such as vitamins B, C and D, folic acid, green tea extract, cod liver oil and other nutraceuticals, was first designed by scientists in McMaster's Department of Biology in 2000.

A series of studies published over the last decade and a half have shown its benefits in mice, in both normal mice and those specifically bred for such research because they age rapidly, experiencing dramatic declines in cognitive and motor function in a matter of months.

The mice used in this study had widespread loss of more than half of their brain cells, severely impacting multiple regions of the brain by one year of age, the human equivalent of severe Alzheimer's disease.

The mice were fed the supplement on small pieces of bagel each day over the course of several months. Over time, researchers found that it completely eliminated the severe brain cell loss and abolished cognitive decline.

"The research suggests that there is tremendous potential with this supplement to help people who are suffering from some catastrophic neurological diseases," says Lemon, who conducted the work with co-author Vadim Aksenov, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at McMaster.

"We know this because mice experience the same basic cell mechanisms that contribute to neurodegeneration that humans do. All species, in fact. There is a commonality among us all."

In addition to looking at the major markers of aging, they also discovered that the mice on the supplements experienced enhancement in vision and most remarkably in the sense of smell -- the loss of which is often associated with neurological disease -- improved balance and motor activity.

The next step in the research is to test the supplement on humans, likely within the next two years, and target those who are dealing with neurodegenerative diseases. The research is published online in the journal Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis.

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by McMaster University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. J.A. Lemon, V. Aksenov, R. Samigullina, S. Aksenov, W.H. Rodgers, C.D. Rollo, D.R. Boreham. A multi-ingredient dietary supplement abolishes large-scale brain cell loss, improves sensory function, and prevents neuronal atrophy in aging mice. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 2016; DOI: 10.1002/em.22019

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McMaster University. "Fountain of youth? Dietary supplement may prevent and reverse severe damage to aging brain, research suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 2 June 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160602095204.htm>.

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TOP 10 JAILBREAK TWEAKS OF THIS MONTH

New jailbreak tweaks for iOS are being released all the time, which is great news if you are a fan of the jailbreak world and like to have new things to try, but it can often be overwhelming for those who are just getting started or simply don’t have the time or the inclination to stay on top of everything.

That’s when choice and availability start to have a negative affect, and that’s no good for anybody.

Luckily enough, though, we’re here to make sure that no worthy tweak goes unnoticed, and to that end, we are going to share ten jailbreak tweaks with you, all of which were released recently. If you’re looking for a new tweak to test-drive this weekend, then look no further.

SwipyFolders

Super-charge your folders with this tweak. SwipyFolders allows users to change the icon used for a folder, control what happens when it is 3D-Touched or swiped, and more. Ever wanted to launch an app from within a folder with a double-tap? Install this, and you can.

The tweak is available for free on the BigBoss repo.

Phenomenon

Task switchers are some of the best jailbreak tweaks around, and Phenomenon has a place on that list. Improved gesture support and control over Control Center are amongst the list of things this tweak is capable of.

The tweak goes for $2.99 over at the BigBoss repository.

IGExperiments

Ever hear about some of the new features that Instagram is testing but you never seem to have access to them? IGExperiments will let you enable things like 60-second videos and the new blank & white UI. Clever stuff.

The tweak is free on the BigBoss repository.

WAContactPicture

This tweak allows users to change the profile pictures of their friends within WhatsApp. Simple, really.

You can grab WAContactPicture for free from BigBoss.

Xgress

Play Ingress on your jailbroken iOS device because, why not?

Available for free from the BigBoss repo.

TinyPlayer Lite

A unified media player that can be activated via Activator gestures and is visible on top of apps and even the Home screen.

TinyPlayer Lite can be downloaded for free from BigBoss.

SilentMessenger

Get better control over Facebook Messenger’s privacy settings, including an option to stop the recipient from being able to tell when you are typing, disable Read receipts, and much more.

SilentMessenger will cost you $1.50 and is available from the BigBoss repository.

ThinBar

This tweak does nothing more than take the standard notification bar and make it considerably thinner. If the standard bar strikes you as too large, then this is for you.

ThinBar is free on the BigBoss repo.

SaveCloud

A tweak dedicated to making it easy to download files from SoundCloud, with downloaded tracks able to be imported into the Music app if so desired.

SaveCloud can be downloaded for free from BigBoss.

SmartBatteryPercentage

Own Apple’s Smart Battery Case? If the answer is yes, this tweak will combine both it and the iPhone’s battery into one icon on the iPhone’s screen. If both devices are charged, the screen will read 200%.

SmartBatteryPercentage can be downloaded for free from the developer’s repo at leftyfl1p.github.io.

And that’s enough for now – let us know if there are any we’ve missed and enjoy your weekend’s tweaking!

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