Socialize more, end the OCD… There are numerous possibilities that can already be made with mice.
Links between cells, known to synapses, can be chemical or electrical. The most common in mammals are the first.
“We wanted to know if we could conceive a way to circumvent the chemical synapses between the cells, putting an electric synapse there,” begins by explaining scientist Kafui Dzirasa to
Many mental health problems seem to occur when something is bad for the neurotransmitter -based signaling system. Therefore, a team from the University of Duke sought protein in other organisms – eventually chose the conexins called 34.7 and 35, found in a fish called white lost (Morone American).
“We found the conexins by searching for an incredible amount of literature to find proteins with exactly the properties we would like to create a human system,” says the scientist.
“We have implemented many Electrodes the size of a hair In many areas of the brain of mice at the same time and then we registered its electrical activity, ”says Dzirasa the process.“ This gives us a electric map the way information flows through the brain. ”
During the experience, scientists submitted mice to situations that induce anxiety or aggression, to identify the brain cells that should receive the modified synapse.
Then they injected a harmless virus into the brain of the mice to provide the genetic information needed to produce the conexins. The result? Functional electrical synapses that changed the way electricity moved in a Microcircuit in the front cortex.
“These standards of genetic expression are like a GPS indicator,” says Dzirasa.
More sociable, less anxious mice and hope for people with mental illnesses related to social anxiety or compulsive obsessive disorder (OCD). O is available in BIORHIVIVE.
“We created an approach to editing the connection between the cells, allowing a specific brain reconnection,” says Dzirasa. “It has the potential to edit many different types of genetically induced connection deficits to prevent the emergence of Psychiatric disorders.”
“It is likely that it is a useful tool to answer the question of knowing what would happen to standards of activity and behaviors We add electrical synapses Specific cell types in neuronal circuits ”, comments researcher David Spray.
Now the goal is to advance the investigation until this approach can be done in humans. The main author comments that “I just want to make sure there is something available for people to need.”
