Posts

January 31, 2013

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3:37 AM | To Branch, Or Not To Branch – Plant Hormones Help Turn A Stem Into A Bush

When we hear the expression "stem cells", we tend to think of cells from animals or patients that are used to treat diseases or promote regeneration. However, stem cells are also present in plants. The growing tips of plants are called meristems and they are reservoirs of plant stem cells. A meristem is formed at the base of each leaf and can remain dormant as a small bud or be activated and give rise to a whole new branch. Gardeners... Read more

Shinohara, N., Taylor, C. & Leyser, O. (2013). Strigolactone Can Promote or Inhibit Shoot Branching by Triggering Rapid Depletion of the Auxin Efflux Protein PIN1 from the Plasma Membrane, PLoS Biology, 11 (1) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001474

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January 30, 2013

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9:58 PM | Intuition or a sense of Smell?

I've long been fascinated by the idea that those feelings often attributed to 'intuition' or 'following your gut' might occur physiologically in the form of odor cues that we don't consciously register.Intuition or Olfactuation? (source)An example of this might me when you can just 'tell something is wrong' in a situation and decide to leave, and later found out that something bad happened later that evening. These sorts of stories are often used as evidence that people have psychic powers of […]

de Groot JH, Smeets MA, Kaldewaij A, Duijndam MJ & Semin GR (2012). Chemosignals communicate human emotions., Psychological science, 23 (11) 1417-24. PMID: 23019141

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January 27, 2013

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7:04 PM | The Cellular Guide to Pipettes

What is a pipette?Types of Pipettes (I took this picture)There are lot of things that fall under the category of "pipette" and I found this a source of much confusion in my early graduate school days. Even after I knew by context what 'hand me the pipette' meant, I had a hell of a time trying to order the right type of pipette from scientific supply companies. So I am going to do you all a service, and give you a guide to pipette types: Labeled pipette types (I took this […]

January 24, 2013

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10:32 PM | Flipping the Switch: Using Optogenetics to Treat Seizures

Optogenetics is emerging as one of the most exciting new tools in biomedical research. This method is based on introducing genes that encode for light-sensitive proteins into cells. A laser beam can then be used to activate the light-sensitive proteins. Many of the currently used optogenetic proteins respond to the laser activation by changing the membrane voltage potential inside the cells. This is the reason why neurons and other cells that can be excited by electrical impulses, are ideally […]

Krook-Magnuson, E., Armstrong, C., Oijala, M. & Soltesz, I. (2013). On-demand optogenetic control of spontaneous seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy, Nature Communications, 4 1376. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2376

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1:19 PM | Will ASCO GI herald a new era for pancreatic cancer?

Today I’m heading off to attend the ASCO GI meeting in San Fransciso, and in particular, the pancreatic cancer sessions…

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9:06 AM | Mejoran en el CNB los anticuerpos humanizados producidos por ratones

El laboratorio del investigador del Centro Nacional de Biotecnología del CSIC (CNB) Lluís Montoliu ha generado para la empresa británica Crescendo Biologics Limited una variedad de ratones con anticuerpos humanos mejores que los que se producían hasta ahora. Estos anticuerpos, mucho más pequeños que los naturales, tienen la ventaja de poder usarse vía tópica y, según comenta Mike Romanos, director ejecutivo de Crescendo Biologics, “llegan con más facilidad a los órganos y tejidos […]

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5:17 AM | A preview of Crowd4Discovery experiments

The goal of Crowd4Discovery (C4D) is to find out where amphetamines accumulate inside mouse brain cells by combining a proven drug-detection technique called autoradiography with a powerful electron microscope to...

January 23, 2013

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1:46 PM | Is Cannabis Usage “Related” to Strokes?

Any research related to cannabis is bound to be sensationalized or politicized because people have strong emotional and political views about its usage. A few months ago, my fellow Scilogs blogger Suzi Gage wrote an excellent blog post about a study that investigated the link between cannabis usage and intelligence. That study had many critical flaws which were often ignored when the research was reported and discussed in the media. All research should be conducted and reported cautiously. […]

Wolff, V., Armspach, J., Lauer, V., Rouyer, O., Bataillard, M., Marescaux, C. & Geny, B. (2012). Cannabis-related Stroke: Myth or Reality?, Stroke, 44 (2) 558-563. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.671347

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January 22, 2013

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10:47 PM | How to Build a Neuron: Step 5

And now, the final step in how to build your computational model of a neuron: Add Synaptic Channels. All the steps in this series can be found here.Synapses connect neurons (source)So you already have a neuron, and you've added intrinsic channels to it. The next thing you want to do is add synaptic channels so you can hook this neuron up to other cells.The main synaptic channels you want to add are the excitatory channels: NMDA and AMPA and the inhibitory channel GABA. These channels don't have […]

Evans RC, Morera-Herreras T, Cui Y, Du K, Sheehan T, Kotaleski JH, Venance L & Blackwell KT (2012). The effects of NMDA subunit composition on calcium influx and spike timing-dependent plasticity in striatal medium spiny neurons., PLoS computational biology, 8 (4) PMID: 22536151

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January 19, 2013

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6:27 PM | LMAYQ: Why do I like that?

Again it is time for me to answer some questions. As always, these are real true 'search terms' that have resulted in some one finding The Cellular Scale. While some questions (like 'how do you build a model of a neuron') are answered by this blog, the ones I answer is these LMAYQ posts are almost certainly not. All the questions and answers in this series can be found in the Let Me Answer Your Questions index.Drawing by Grave Unicorn1. "Why do I like ketamine so much?"This is actually a pretty […]

Kapur S & Seeman P (2002). NMDA receptor antagonists ketamine and PCP have direct effects on the dopamine D(2) and serotonin 5-HT(2)receptors-implications for models of schizophrenia., Molecular psychiatry, 7 (8) 837-44. PMID: 12232776

De Luca MT & Badiani A (2011). Ketamine self-administration in the rat: evidence for a critical role of setting., Psychopharmacology, 214 (2) 549-56. PMID: 21069515

Swami V & Tovée MJ (2012). The impact of psychological stress on men's judgements of female body size., PloS one, 7 (8) PMID: 22905153

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January 18, 2013

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11:10 AM | Mariano Esteban es elegido Presidente de la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia

El investigador del Centro Nacional de Biotecnología del CSIC (CNB) Mariano Esteban sustituye a María Teresa Miras Portugal en la presidencia de la Real Academia Nacional de Farmacia. Y lo hace con la “ilusión de impulsar desde la Academia todo lo relacionado con el medicamento y la salud”, especialmente a través de conferencias, mesas redondas y simposios dirigidos a entender los mecanismos moleculares de la acción de los fármacos sobre el organismo. Pionero en el campo de las […]

January 17, 2013

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11:56 PM | Using Viagra To Burn Fat

Mammals have two types of fat tissue: Brown Adipose Tissue (BAT or "brown fat") and White Adipose Tissue (WAT or "white fat"). Brown fat cells are packed with many small fat droplets and mitochondria, which is why they appear "brown" under the microscope. Their mitochondria contain high levels of the protein UCP-1 (uncoupling protein 1), which "uncouples" fat metabolism from the generation of chemical energy molecules (ATP) for the cell. Instead, brown fat cells release the energy contained in […]

Mitschke, M., Hoffmann, L., Gnad, T., Scholz, D., Kruithoff, K., Mayer, P., Haas, B., Sassmann, A., Pfeifer, A. & Kilic, A. & (2013). Increased cGMP promotes healthy expansion and browning of white adipose tissue, The FASEB Journal, DOI: 10.1096/fj.12-221580

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1:20 PM | Beautiful Animations of Cellular Processes

The professional animator and molecular biologist Janet Iwasa at Harvard Medical School is generating beautiful animations of cellular processes such as proteasome structure and function or endocytosis. Importantly, she has published these on her website with a Creative Commons license so that everyone has access to them. She has been interviewed by EarthSky, where she explains why she became a molecular animator. Movie about the proteasome structure: Movie about chromosome segregation: Movie […]

January 16, 2013

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4:15 PM | Cell therapy industry 2027: Lone ranger or team player?

claimtoken-510012802486f This post was initially intended to be a short vignette (not so short, as it turns out) exploring whether or not the Cell Therapy Industry 2027 required a vade mecum – a single point of reference for all practitioners. It was prompted by a conversation with London’s chirpiest cabbie who offered an extraordinarily pithy...Read more

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2:36 AM | The role of Twitter in our crowdfunding success

Here’s our super secret recipe for crowdfunding a science project. Keep in mind that crowdfunding is more like cooking than baking. Our proportions may not be to your liking, so...

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1:39 AM | How big is the GIANT Squid Giant Axon?

With all the hubbub about the first every video of an attacking giant squid in the wild about to unveiled, I started wondering about the giant axon of the giant squid... I mean it would be huge right?...Giant Squid, Giant Axon? (source)Squid are special creatures to neuroscientists. Specifically to neurophysiologists, who study the electrical activity of neurons.Squid Axon locationAtlantic squid have this huge (1mm) amazing axon running down each side of their mantle which allowed for the first […]

Kubodera T & Mori K (2005). First-ever observations of a live giant squid in the wild., Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society, 272 (1581) 2583-6. PMID: 16321779

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January 15, 2013

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6:33 PM | Dual Identity and Radicalism Among Immigrants

The majority of my scientific colleagues with whom I work in the United States are either immigrants or children of immigrants. Most of them are American citizens, but they also retain strong cultural bonds with their ancestral homelands. This does not seem to constitute much of a problem for them. America is the land of immigrants where one is surrounded by people who are quite comfortable with their hyphenated dual identities. Irish-Americans or Chinese-Americans can be proud of their […]

January 14, 2013

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6:34 PM | The human machine: decommissioned components

The previous post in this series can be found here. Happy 2013 from all of us here in the Trenches! We successfully made it one more time around the sun, and if that's not a good excuse for a party I don't know what is! Sadly, however, not all of your cells have been having such a swimmingly good time since the calendar ticked over to January the first - in fact nearly one trillion of them have died in the past fortnight alone, at a rate of roughly 70 billion a day, or 800,000 per […]

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5:27 PM | Awakening in Toronto

We’ve posted several times in the past on exhibits and events where stem cells feature not just as a subject of scientific study, but as works of art. In this we are not alone — in addition to our own Cells I See art contest, shows at the Ontario Science Centre and the critically-acclaimed Perceptions...Read more

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3:32 AM | Radical Tails: Antioxidants Can Prevent Regeneration

Amphibians such as frogs or salamanders have a remarkable ability to regenerate amputated limbs and tails. The regenerative process involves the formation of endogenous pluripotent stem cells, which then expand and differentiate into the tissue types that give rise to the regenerated body part. The complex interplay of the cell types and signals involved in this regenerative response to the injury are not fully known and there is considerable interest in identifying all the necessary steps. The […]

Love, N., Chen, Y., Ishibashi, S., Kritsiligkou, P., Lea, R., Koh, Y., Gallop, J., Dorey, K. & Amaya, E. (2013). Amputation-induced reactive oxygen species are required for successful Xenopus tadpole tail regeneration, Nature Cell Biology, DOI: 10.1038/ncb2659

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January 11, 2013

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4:08 PM | On Selling and Over-Selling Science

Science!!! (source)Science communication is a persistent topic of ... well communication. Who is responsible for communicating science? How can science be best communicated to the public? What can we to do stop sensationalist and misleading articles from controlling what findings are generally accepted in the public sphere?All these questions rise up in science blogs and on twitter and then fade back into the background. Then something happens and a flurry of posts about communicating science […]

Evans RC (2012). Guest editorial on selling and over-selling science., The Biological bulletin, 223 (3) 257-8. PMID: 23264470

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January 10, 2013

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8:48 PM | Rejuvenation therapy for our aging T-cells (and what it may mean to cancer treatment)

It is said that with age comes “wisdom”; however, I often think that “exhaustion” might serve as a reasonable substitute. As we deal with life’s stresses, and new hairs sprout of snowy white hues, it is hard not to think of our younger days of freedom and vitality. If I could anthropomorphize a cell, I...Read more

January 09, 2013

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9:12 PM | Immune Cells Can Remember Past Lives

The generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is one of the most fascinating discoveries in the history of stem cell biology. John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka received the 2012 Nobel Prize for showing that adult cells could be induced to become embryonic-like stem cells (iPSCs). Many stem cell laboratories now routinely convert skin cells or blood cells from an adult patient into iPSCs. The stem cell properties of the generated iPSCs then allow researchers to convert them into a... […]

January 08, 2013

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3:34 PM | Innovation without protection is philanthropy

This year, your household will pay $360 for the use of Intellectual Property (IP) held by people and corporations outside of Canada. For a little less than a dollar a day, you’re supporting industries like biotechnology, high-tech electronics, and engineering in other countries. Two policy think-tanks believe it’s time for Canadians to flip that balance...Read more

January 07, 2013

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9:07 PM | Does a high fat diet lead to a less 'rewarding' life?

Some interesting research out of the University of Pennsylvania suggests that a high fat diet can disrupt dopamine signalling. This high-fat fed rat sure looks happy to me (source)As I briefly discussed during my SfN Neuroblogging binge, a high fat diet can alter dopamine levels in the brain. To expand on this, we'll look at new research on how exactly this might happen and which specific areas of the brain are affected. Vucetic et. al. (2012) tested the levels of dopamine-related […]

Vucetic Z, Carlin JL, Totoki K & Reyes TM (2012). Epigenetic dysregulation of the dopamine system in diet-induced obesity., Journal of neurochemistry, 120 (6) 891-8. PMID: 22220805

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January 06, 2013

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11:10 PM | Protein sorting in yeast: mutants defective in vacuole biogenesis mislocalize vacuolar proteins into the late secretory pathway

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11:00 PM | Twitter donor subgraphs

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January 05, 2013

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8:38 PM | The demographics of science crowdfunders

Close to 400 donors supported Crowd4Discovery (C4D), our $25,000 basic research project to map the distribution of amphetamines in the mouse brain. Who are these supporters? Why did they support...

January 04, 2013

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3:44 PM | Cellular Recap of 2012 #2: favorites

As promised, here are my favorite posts from each month.January: The Human Neuron" not so special after all?Butti C, Santos M, Uppal N, & Hof PR (2011). Von Economo neurons: Clinical and evolutionary perspectives. Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior PMID: 22130090February: If you give a mouse a placebo...Wise RA, Wang B, & You ZB (2008). Cocaine serves as a peripheral interoceptive conditioned stimulus for central glutamate and dopamine release. […]

Benolken RM & Jacobson SL (1970). Response properties of a sensory hair excised from Venus's flytrap., The Journal of general physiology, 56 (1) 64-82. PMID: 5514161

Volkov AG, Adesina T & Jovanov E (2007). Closing of venus flytrap by electrical stimulation of motor cells., Plant signaling & behavior, 2 (3) 139-45. PMID: 19516982

Forterre Y, Skotheim JM, Dumais J & Mahadevan L (2005). How the Venus flytrap snaps., Nature, 433 (7024) 421-5. PMID: 15674293

Kindt M, Soeter M & Vervliet B (2009). Beyond extinction: erasing human fear responses and preventing the return of fear., Nature neuroscience, 12 (3) 256-8. PMID: 19219038

Kim IJ, Zhang Y, Yamagata M, Meister M & Sanes JR (2008). Molecular identification of a retinal cell type that responds to upward motion., Nature, 452 (7186) 478-82. PMID: 18368118

Kay JN, De la Huerta I, Kim IJ, Zhang Y, Yamagata M, Chu MW, Meister M & Sanes JR (2011). Retinal ganglion cells with distinct directional preferences differ in molecular identity, structure, and central projections., The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 31 (21) 7753-62. PMID: 21613488

Kraskov A, Dancause N, Quallo MM, Shepherd S & Lemon RN (2009). Corticospinal neurons in macaque ventral premotor cortex with mirror properties: a potential mechanism for action suppression?, Neuron, 64 (6) 922-30. PMID: 20064397

Casile A, Caggiano V & Ferrari PF (2011). The mirror neuron system: a fresh view., The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry, 17 (5) 524-38. PMID: 21467305

Blackiston DJ, Silva Casey E & Weiss MR (2008). Retention of memory through metamorphosis: can a moth remember what it learned as a caterpillar?, PloS one, 3 (3) PMID: 18320055

Marx M, Günter RH, Hucko W, Radnikow G & Feldmeyer D (2012). Improved biocytin labeling and neuronal 3D reconstruction., Nature protocols, 7 (2) 394-407. PMID: 22301777

Finger TE & Kinnamon SC (2011). Taste isn't just for taste buds anymore., F1000 biology reports, 3 20. PMID: 21941599

Triana-Del Rio R, Montero-Domínguez F, Cibrian-Llanderal T, Tecamachaltzi-Silvaran MB, Garcia LI, Manzo J, Hernandez ME & Coria-Avila GA (2011). Same-sex cohabitation under the effects of quinpirole induces a conditioned socio-sexual partner preference in males, but not in female rats., Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior, 99 (4) 604-13. PMID: 21704064

Labour MN, Banc A, Tourrette A, Cunin F, Verdier JM, Devoisselle JM, Marcilhac A & Belamie E (2012). Thick collagen-based 3D matrices including growth factors to induce neurite outgrowth., Acta biomaterialia, 8 (9) 3302-12. PMID: 22617741

Fu M, Yu X, Lu J & Zuo Y (2012). Repetitive motor learning induces coordinated formation of clustered dendritic spines in vivo., Nature, 483 (7387) 92-5. PMID: 22343892

Butti C, Santos M, Uppal N & Hof PR (2011). Von Economo neurons: Clinical and evolutionary perspectives., Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, PMID: 22130090

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January 03, 2013

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1:22 AM | A cellular 2012

It's been an exciting first year of blogging here at The Cellular Scale.Glowing NeuronLet's take a look back at the Cellular year, shall we?I am going to do this two ways: Today I'll post the first sentence of the first post of each month from this blog as is a blogging tradition. Next post, I'll list my personal favorite posts from each month.January: "Hello and welcome to The Cellular Scale."February: "Food smells better when you're hungry, right?"March: "Another adventure out side the […]

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