Editorial: Shankopathies: Shank Protein Deficiency-Induced Synaptic Diseases

Shank Proteins Differentially Regulate Synaptic Transmission

Shank proteins, one of the principal scaffolds in the postsynaptic density (PSD) of the glutamatergic synapses, have been associated with autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychiatric diseases. However, it is not known whether different Shank family proteins have distinct functions in regulating synaptic transmission, and how they differ from other scaffold proteins in this aspect. Here, we in...

Vitamin Deficiency-Induced Neurological Diseases of Poultry

Vitamins are organic compounds distinct from fats, carbohydrates and proteins, naturally found in most foods items in minute amounts for normal physiological function. Their essentiality in poultry nutrition is evidenced by diverse deficiency symptoms that manifest when they are lacking. They are intimately involved in a series of roles in organisms as antioxidant molecules, modulators of gene ...

Food Insecurity and Chronic Diseases: The Editorial

Editorial: Drug Development for Parasite-Induced Diarrheal Diseases

Citation: Debnath A and McKerrow JH (2017) Editorial: Drug Development for Parasite-Induced Diarrheal Diseases. Diarrhea continues to be a major contributing factor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years old. Three enteroparasites, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, and Cryptosporidium parvum are common infectious agents caus...

Postsynaptic shank antagonizes dendrite branching induced by the leucine-rich repeat protein Densin-180.

Leucine-rich repeat and PDZ [postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95)/Discs large/zona occludens-1] domain proteins such as scribble and Densin-180 have been implicated in the establishment of cell-cell contacts. Here, we show that Densin-180, which has been identified as a constituent of the postsynaptic density in excitatory synapses interacts with the postsynaptic scaffold protein shank (shank1-3). ...