Role of extracellular matrix in the transfer of nerve impulses in the CNS
New perspectives in the research of new drug against the most serious neurological disorders and neurodegenerative.
The Department of Neuroscience and neurotechnologies the Italian Institute of Technology has written an important study published in Trends in Neurosciences (TINS), the most authoritative international journals update on Neuroscience, “compartmentalization from the outside: the extracellular matrix and functional microdomains of the brain. ” The work, published by prof. Dityatev Alexander, Senior Researcher at the Department of Neuroscience and neurotechnologies the Italian Institute of Technology, has been realized thanks to a major international collaboration of the Institute with some of the world’s largest facilities devoted to research in the neurological field, such as Rutgers University (USA) and the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (Germany).
Furthermore, Professor. Alexander Dityatev Management Committee has been appointed Chair of the important project “Brain Extracellular Matrix in Health and Disease” funded by COST, European Cooperation in Science and Technology, supported by the European Union, involving 13 countries. “This project provides a coordinated research sull’ECM of the different nations involved – said prof. Dityatev – by encouraging the sharing of studies and progress among the scientists involved, thereby giving more impetus to the possibility of finding a synergy between the fields in the past, were considered unrelated and that recent studies have tried interdependent. ”
In fact, recent studies reviewed in the update on TINS showed an extremely important for the future of research in neurology, especially with regard to the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) covers the transfer of signals in the central nervous system.
Understanding these mechanisms is crucial to see the effect that spark a change in the structure of the ECM on the various parts of the synapse – perineuronal, axonal, synaptic and perisinaptica – and to determine the usefulness of enzyme-based drugs directed to its amendment, here they can take on so many acute and chronic, currently incurable, which may affect the central nervous system.
Studies have shown that the ECM plays a key role in both the development of the central nervous system of the embryo is in its proper functioning in adults. In fact, the ECM takes up about 20% of total volume in the mature human brain and plays the role of scaffolding and synaptic perisinaptica, regulating the clustering of receptors in the post-synaptic compartment, directing choirs molecules in microdomains function and reducing the spread side when changing from one synapse to another.
Moreover, in the embryo and in adults, the ECM determines the proper migration, differentiation and integration of existing stem cells in neural circuits. Not only that, the ECM in the brain also regulates the traffic of molecules outside the neurogenic niche, the place where the stem cells remain during and after development to produce new cells within the CNS. This makes you play an important role in transmitting information over long distances, intervening in several processes such as wakefulness, sleep and memory formation.
“These studies have demonstrated a fundamental theory for the future of research in neurological diseases – said prof. Dityatev Alexander – namely that the synapse is not a simple structure, consisting of two or three elements, but includes elements from the pre- synaptic, postsynaptic, and astro-glial contacts, to the extracellular matrix. Thus, the synapse is regarded as a tetra-party structure, key target for scientific research of new drug for the treatment of severe and devastating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases ” .
In fact, in the past, it was thought that the role of the ECM, which fills the intercellular space, was basically to support and anchorage for cells, and the division between the different tissues. Although he discovered his role in the transfer of signals between a synapse and the other had not yet been identified nor its importance, the various functions it provides.
