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Posted by United Press International on February 9, 2010, 8:54 am
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DAVIS, Calif., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they
have identified a protein that plays an essential role in the
formation of synapses in vertebrates' central nervous systems.
University of California-Davis Assistant professor Elva
Diaz, the study's senior author, said she named the protein SynDIG1
-- synapse differentiation induced gene product one. A synapse is
the space between nerve cells, through which nerve impulses are
transmitted from one cell to another.
"We know that synapses are essential for learning, memory
and perception and suspect that imbalances in synapse formation
impact disorders of the brain such as autism and schizophrenia," she
said. "Our study is the first to identify SynDIG1 as a critical
regulator of these important brain connections."
Diaz said she and her team of molecular neurobiologists and
electrophysiologists from UC-Davis and the University of Iowa
determined the functions of SynDIG1 by studying neurons from the
brains of lab rats. She said the study suggests SynDIG1 "is a key
driver of the entire synaptic process, but we need to test this
before we can confidently say this is true."
Diaz added, "We could be on the path to redefining many
brain diseases as synapse diseases instead."
The study appears in the Jan. 14 issue of the journal
Neuron.
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