Pondering the Dynamic Control of Neuronal Form and Function with Shelley Halpain

The structure of neuronal networks is remarkably complex and dynamic. Professor Shelley Halpain has been at the forefront of research aimed at understanding how the brain’s “neuroarchitecture” is established during development and changes in response to synaptic activity (neuroplasticity). Here she talks about the ‘cytoskeleton’ of neurons which consists of dynamic protein polymers of actin (microfilaments) and tubulin (microtubules), and how the polymerization state of these cytoskeletal proteins is controlled by the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and the calcium ion (Ca2+). Working with her students and collaborators Professor Halpain has elucidated roles for proteins that control actin or tubulin polymerization in the formation and adaptive modification of neuronal circuits. Such structural modifications play fundamental roles in the enduring changes in neuronal circuits involved in learning and memory. Interestingly, one of these proteins (INF2) mediates a process called ‘actinification’ which functions as an adaptive stress response that can prevent the death of neurons in conditions such as stroke and epileptic seizures.

LINKS:

Professor Halpain’s Labpage: https://biology.ucsd.edu/research/faculty/shalpain

Review article on Neuron Navigators: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9877351/pdf/fnmol-15-1099554.pdf

Actinification and neuroprotection: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9558009/pdf/41467_2022_Article_33268.pdf

Navigator control of growth cone internalization of neurotrophin receptors:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9561856/pdf/mbc-33-ar64.pdf

Regulation of actin microfilaments by glutamate:

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/18/23/9835.full.pdf