Скачать или смотреть Science Communication Cafe: The role of proteins for our nerve cells

In July 2021 we continued digitally with fresh coffee and very exciting research! The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin once again invited you to the Digital Science Communication Cafe. This month in English. Get ready to get exciting insights from scientist into their work while drinking coffee in front of the screens in a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone is invited to ask questions and contribute to the conversation.

This time we are joined by Dr Diana Alatriste González, #neuroscientist and co-founder of the of the Charité PhD Network. During her PhD, Diana studied the development of neurons from the cerebral cortex, the most outer layer of the #brain responsible of regulating processes such as learning and memory formation.

Neurons are nerve cells. Although present in the brain they can extend their branches (or neurites, as they are known in the field) for long distances to connect the brain to different parts of the body. As part of her doctoral thesis, Diana studied a protein who was previously described as an important regulator of the branching of the #neurons. Mice missing this protein also present have a significantly smaller number of receptors in their cell membrane and present an autism-like behavior. How the absence of single protein can have such an impact? Diana’s work combined in vivo (tested on whole, living organisms) and in vitro (test-tube experiments) techniques in molecular biology to find out what was the particular reason behind the reduced number of receptors and found out a new mechanism of this protein as a traffic regulator inside neurons.

Diana will help us understand how inhibiting the expression of one protein could help us understand and elucidate new, unknown functions for such protein within a cell or a system. How do proteins are transported inside our #cells? What happens when proteins do not move properly? Can we talk about cellular traffic? During our discussion, we will find out the details and main characters coordinating protein trafficking inside neurons and how failures in the transport lead to protein traffic and consequent disease.