Like buoys bobbing on the ocean, many receptors float on the surface of a cell\u2019s membrane with a part sticking above the water and another underwater, inside the cell\u2019s cytoplasm. But for cells to function, these receptors must be docked at specific regions of the cell. Most research has focused on the \u2018underwater\u2019 portions. That\u2019s where the cell\u2019s molecular machines swarm and interact with a receptor\u2019s underwater tails, with those interactions then fueling signals that dive deep into the nucleus, changing the cell\u2019s course.<\/p>\n
New work by a team of Thomas Jefferson University researchers reveals new activity above the surface, in brain-cell receptors that govern learning and chronic pain. In the study, the authors show that the \u2018above water\u2019 portion of proteins can help dock the proteins at synapses, where neurons mediate flow of information throughout the brain. This discovery opens the possibility of using this docking site as a target to develop treatments for chronic pain and other diseases more effectively. The study was published January 29th in Nature Communications.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe extracellular spaces \u2014 the parts \u2018above the water\u2019 \u2014 have been largely overlooked,\u201d says senior author Matthew Dalva, PhD, professor and vice chair of the Department of Neuroscience and director of the Jefferson Synaptic Biology Center in the Vickie & Jack Institute for Neuroscience \u2014 Jefferson Health. Dr. Dalva and his team looked at the NMDAR receptor on brain cells and pinpointed the spot where this receptor interacts with a neighbor to initiate signaling. \u201cWhen trying to develop new therapy, finding the bullseye is half the problem,\u201d says Dr. Dalva.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like buoys bobbing on the ocean, many receptors float on the surface of a cell\u2019s membrane with a part sticking above the water and another underwater, inside the cell\u2019s cytoplasm. But for cells to function, these receptors must be docked at specific regions of the cell. Most research has focused on the \u2018underwater\u2019 portions. That\u2019s [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1495,4,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-health","category-nanotechnology","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/501"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}