RUB researchers and colleagues examine the role of channel
protein in learning
The channel protein Pannexin1 keeps nerve cells flexible and
thus the brain receptive for new knowledge. Together with colleagues from
Canada and the U.S., researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum led by the
junior professor Dr. Nora Prochnow from the Department of Molecular Brain
Research describe these results in PLoS ONE. In the study, mice comprising no
Pannexin1 in memory-related brain structures displayed symptoms similar to
autism. Their nerve cells lacked synaptic plasticity, i.e. the ability to form
new synaptic contacts or give up old contacts based on the level of usage.
Pannexins are abundant in the central nervous system of
vertebrates
Pannexins traverse the cell membrane of vertebrate animals
and form large pored channels. They are permeable for certain signalling
molecules, such as the energy storage molecule ATP (adenosine triphosphate).