UCLA scientists pioneer new method for watching brain cells interact in real time

An advance by UCLA neuroscientists could lead to a better understanding of astrocytes, star-shaped brain cells that are believed to play a key role in neurological disorders like Lou Gehrig ’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases.Reported in Neuron, the new method enables researchers to peer deep inside a mouse ’s brain and watch astrocytes’ influence over the communication between nerve cells in real time. The test relies on fluorescence resonance energy-transfer microscopy, or FRET microscopy, a technique that uses light to measure the tiniest of distances between molecules. The UCLA team focused on astrocytes ’ relationship with synapses, the junctions between neurons that enable them to signal each other and convey messages. Neuroscientists have tried for years to measure how astrocytes’ tentacles interact with synapses to perform important brain functions. Until now, however, no one had developed a test suitable for viewing adult brain tissue in living mice.“We’re now able to see how astrocytes and synapses make physical contact, and determine how these connections change in disorders like Alzheimer’s and  Huntington’s diseases,” saidBaljit Khakh, the study ’s lead author and a professor of physiology  and  neurobiology  at the  David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “What we learn could open up new strategies for treating those diseases, for example, by identifying cellular interactions that support normal brain function.”Khakh ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news