How does a brain that doesn't get out of control come about?

▎WuXi AppTec Content Team Editor Our daily actions depend on stable signal transmission in the brain to complete.
Once the signal is out of control, a series of neurological diseases from epilepsy to schizophrenia may occur
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Various chemical molecules in the brain act as regulatory signals
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Recently, new research in Cell Reports has identified two more proteins involved in the regulation of brain signals, RIM1 and SRPK2, which are mainly responsible for controlling signal transmission at synaptic sites
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Synapse acts as a signal relay station, some signals can be transmitted downstream when they arrive, and some signals will be transmitted only after they accumulate to a certain extent
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According to the new study, which signals need to be released and which ones need to be waited, it depends on RIM1 to complete
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Key among them are the many neurotransmitter-filled synaptic vesicles in the synapse that wait on one side of the synapse, only to be released when the right signal is received
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"The number of these synaptic vesicles released, and the receptor's response to them, is tightly controlled," says neuroscientist Dr.
Schoch McGovern of the University of Bonn in Germany
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Dr.
McGovern and colleagues previously found in fruit flies that RIM1 is active in this process
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However, it remains unclear whether more advanced organisms have more complex regulatory mechanisms
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To this end, he and his colleagues extended the study to the mouse level
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▲SPRK2 modifies the RIM protein to affect the process of synaptic signal transmission (Image source: Reference [2]) In the analysis of the new study, they found that during the release of synaptic vesicles, an enzyme named SRPK2 will continue to RIM1.
Phosphate groups are added to some amino acids, and correspondingly, phosphorylation of specific amino acids increases the number of synaptic vesicles released
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"Whether it increases or decreases the number of synaptic vesicles depends on which amino acids are phosphorylated," explains Dr.
McGovern
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They still don't know how the phosphorylated RIM1 is processed after performing its function, and it is possible that other enzymes will modify it to complete the subsequent regulation
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Based on the findings in mice, RIM1 has the potential to be a therapeutic target for many neurological diseases, especially those caused by disturbances in signaling
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Reference: [1] Scientists Find an Enzyme That May Stop Brain Activity Getting Out of Control.
Retrieved Apr 25th, 2022 from https:// could-help-explain-various-disorders[2] Johannes Alexander Muller, Julia Betzin, et al.
A presynaptic phosphosignaling hub for lasting homeostatic plasticity.
Cell(2022), DOI: 10.
1016/j.
celrep.
2022.
110696