How nerve cells grow

Courtesy EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health  Thu, 02/18/2010 - 23:00

(Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) Brain researcher Hiroshi Kawabe has discovered the workings of a process that had been completely overlooked until now, and that allows nerve cells in the brain to grow and form complex networks.

The study shows that an enzyme which usually controls the destruction of protein components has an unexpected function in nerve cells: it controls the structure of the cytoskeleton and thus ensures that nerve cells can form the tree-like extensions that are necessary for signal transmission in the brain.

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