scholarly journals Extensive and diverse patterns of cell death sculpt neural networks in insects

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinziana Pop ◽  
Chin-Lin Chen ◽  
Connor J Sproston ◽  
Shu Kondo ◽  
Pavan Ramdya ◽  
...  

Changes to the structure and function of neural networks are thought to underlie the evolutionary adaptation of animal behaviours. Among the many developmental phenomena that generate change programmed cell death (PCD) appears to play a key role. We show that cell death occurs continuously throughout insect neurogenesis and happens soon after neurons are born. Mimicking an evolutionary role for increasing cell numbers, we artificially block PCD in the medial neuroblast lineage in Drosophila melanogaster, which results in the production of ‘undead’ neurons with complex arborisations and distinct neurotransmitter identities. Activation of these ‘undead’ neurons and recordings of neural activity in behaving animals demonstrate that they are functional. Focusing on two dipterans which have lost flight during evolution we reveal that reductions in populations of flight interneurons are likely caused by increased cell death during development. Our findings suggest that the evolutionary modulation of death-based patterning could generate novel network configurations.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinziana Pop ◽  
Chin-Lin Chen ◽  
Connor J Sproston ◽  
Shu Kondo ◽  
Pavan Ramdya ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTChanges to the structure and function of neural networks are thought to underlie the evolutionary adaptation of animal behaviours. Among the many developmental phenomena that generate change programmed cell death appears to play a key role. We show that cell death occurs continuously throughout insect neurogenesis and happens soon after neurons are born. Focusing on two dipterans which have lost flight during evolution we reveal that reductions in populations of flight interneurons are likely caused by increased cell death during development.Mimicking an evolutionary role for increasing cell numbers, we artificially block programmed cell death in the medial neuroblast lineage in Drosophila melanogaster, which results in the production of ‘undead’ neurons with complex arborisations and distinct neurotransmitter identities. Activation of these ‘undead’ neurons and recordings of neural activity in behaving animals demonstrate that they are functional. Our findings suggest that the evolutionary modulation of death-based patterning could generate novel network configurations.


Author(s):  
Arianna Filntisi ◽  
Nikitas Papangelopoulos ◽  
Elena Bencurova ◽  
Ioannis Kasampalidis ◽  
George Matsopoulos ◽  
...  

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are a well-established computational method inspired by the structure and function of biological central nervous systems. Since their conception, ANNs have been utilized in a vast variety of applications due to their impressive information processing abilities. A vibrant field, ANNs have been utilized in bioinformatics, a general term for describing the combination of informatics, biology and medicine. This article is an effort to investigate recent advances in the area of bioinformatical applications of ANNs, with emphasis in disease diagnosis, genetics, proteomics, and chemoinformatics. The combination of neural networks and game theory in some of these application is also discussed.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. e23863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muying Ying ◽  
Xiaotian Huang ◽  
Haijun Zhao ◽  
Yuehao Wu ◽  
Fusheng Wan ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Nurlena Andalia ◽  
Muhammad Ridhwan ◽  
Roslina Roslina ◽  
Nur Afni ◽  
Burhanuddin AG

This study aims to determine the implementation of inquiry methods that can improve students' critical thinking skills on the concept of structure and function of plant tissues at the Sekolah Keberbakatan Olah Raga Negeri Aceh (Aceh State Sports School). The population of this research is the many 112 students of class XI of the Sekolah Keberbakatan Olah Raga Negeri Aceh. The sample in this study were 26 students in class XI-1 as an experimental class and 26 students in class XI-2 as a control class. The method used is a descriptive method with a structural approach. Data collection is done by test techniques and data processing using the t-test formula. The results of the data analysis showed that the average ability or average value of class XI-1 students of the Sekolah Keberbakatan Olah Raga Negeri Aceh in taking the test received 80.7. While the average value of class XI-2 students of the Sekolah Keberbakatan Olah Raga Negeri Aceh in taking the test gets 70. Based on the price of t-counts and t-tables at a significant level of 0.05 with db: 50 of the sample class XI, then t- the count is 6.40 and the t-table is 1.66. So that the hypothesis proposed the implementation of inquiry methods can improve students' critical thinking skills on the concept of the structure and function of plant tissues in the Sekolah Keberbakatan Olah Raga Negeri Aceh is Accepted. It is recommended that this research can increase knowledge through the use of inquiry methods in all biological science subject matter.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doshun Ito ◽  
Hinata Kawamura ◽  
Akira Oikawa ◽  
Yuta Ihara ◽  
Toshio Shibata ◽  
...  

AbstractGuanosine 3’,5’-bis(pyrophosphate) (ppGpp) functions as a second messenger in bacteria to adjust their physiology in response to environmental changes. In recent years, the ppGpp-specific hydrolase, metazoan SpoT homolog-1 (Mesh1), was shown to have important roles for growth under nutrient deficiency in Drosophila melanogaster. Curiously, however, ppGpp has never been detected in animal cells, and therefore the physiological relevance of this molecule, if any, in metazoans has not been established. Here, we report the detection of ppGpp in Drosophila and human cells and demonstrate that ppGpp accumulation induces metabolic changes, cell death, and eventually lethality in Drosophila. Our results provide the first evidence of the existence and function of the ppGpp-dependent stringent response in animals.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2197
Author(s):  
Zachary M. Geisterfer ◽  
Gabriel Guilloux ◽  
Jesse C. Gatlin ◽  
Romain Gibeaux

Self-organization of and by the cytoskeleton is central to the biology of the cell. Since their introduction in the early 1980s, cytoplasmic extracts derived from the eggs of the African clawed-frog, Xenopus laevis, have flourished as a major experimental system to study the various facets of cytoskeleton-dependent self-organization. Over the years, the many investigations that have used these extracts uniquely benefited from their simplified cell cycle, large experimental volumes, biochemical tractability and cell-free nature. Here, we review the contributions of egg extracts to our understanding of the cytoplasmic aspects of self-organization by the microtubule and the actomyosin cytoskeletons as well as the importance of cytoskeletal filaments in organizing nuclear structure and function.


Author(s):  
Robert C Wolf ◽  
Mahmoud Rashidi ◽  
Mike M Schmitgen ◽  
Stefan Fritze ◽  
Fabio Sambataro ◽  
...  

Abstract Neurological soft signs (NSS) are well documented in individuals with schizophrenia (SZ), yet so far, the relationship between NSS and specific symptom expression is unclear. We studied 76 SZ patients using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine associations between NSS, positive symptoms, gray matter volume (GMV), and neural activity at rest. SZ patients were hypothesis-driven stratified according to the presence or absence of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH; n = 34 without vs 42 with AVH) according to the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Structural MRI data were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry, whereas intrinsic neural activity was investigated using regional homogeneity (ReHo) measures. Using ANCOVA, AVH patients showed significantly higher NSS in motor and integrative functions (IF) compared with non-hallucinating (nAVH) patients. Partial correlation revealed that NSS IF were positively associated with AVH symptom severity in AVH patients. Such associations were not confirmed for delusions. In region-of-interest ANCOVAs comprising the left middle and superior temporal gyri, right paracentral lobule, and right inferior parietal lobule (IPL) structure and function, significant differences between AVH and nAVH subgroups were not detected. In a binary logistic regression model, IF scores and right IPL ReHo were significant predictors of AVH. These data suggest significant interrelationships between sensorimotor integration abilities, brain structure and function, and AVH symptom expression.


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