Dissecting the functional roles of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in cortical circuits is a fundamental goal in neuroscience. Of particular interest are their roles in emergent cortical computations such as binocular integration in primary visual cortex (V1). We measured the binocular response selectivity of genetically defined subpopulations of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Parvalbumin...

Control of protein synthesis is critical for synaptic plasticity and memory formation. However, the molecular mechanisms linking neuronal activity to activation of mRNA translation are not fully understood. Here, we report that the translational repressor poly(A)-binding protein (PABP)-interacting protein 2A (PAIP2A), an inhibitor of PABP, is rapidly proteolyzed by calpains in stimulated neuron...

While CaMKII has long been known to be essential for synaptic plasticity and learning, recent work points to new dimensions of CaMKII function in the nervous system, revealing that CaMKII also plays an important role in synaptic organization. Ca(2+)-triggered autophosphorylation of CaMKII not only provides molecular memory by prolonging CaMKII activity during long-term plasticity (LTP) and lear...

Adult brain-derived neural stem cells have acquired a lot of interest as an endurable neuronal cell source that can be used for central nervous system repair in a wide range of neurological disorders such as ischemic stroke. Recently, we identified injury-induced neural stem/progenitor cells in the poststroke murine cerebral cortex. In this study, we show that, after differentiation in vitro, i...

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 regulates numerous neuronal functions with its activator, p35. Under neurotoxic conditions, p35 undergoes proteolytic cleavage to liberate p25, which has been implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we show that p25 is generated following neuronal activity under physiological conditions in a GluN2B- and CaMKIIα-dependent manner. Moreover, we developed a...

Effects of salt stress on absorption and distribution osmotic ions in wheat seedlings were studied with 4 winter varieties under NaCl by exploring dynamic changes Ca2+, K+, Na+, Ca2+/Na+, K+/Na+ Na+ limiting ability. The results showed that the contents Ca2+ ratio gradually decreased a manner both concentration dependent time dependent. extent reduction K+ root was much more severe than shoot. ...

extracellular ca 2+ concentration ([ca2+]o) may be one of the factors affecting atrial natriuretic factor (anf) release. in the previous studies, there are opposite reports about the effect of [ca2+]o on anf secretion. therefore, the effect of [ca2+]o depletion on anf secretion and gene expression was studied in the present research. isolated right atria from rats were perfused for 6 and 2 hour...

In this issue of Neuron, Mankin et al. (2015) show that CA2, an oft-neglected hippocampal subregion, has place representations that change from one episode to the next, even as the spatial environment does not. This finding may help explain how time is encoded in episodic memories.

Individual unstimulated GH4C1 cells exhibited spontaneous dynamic fluctuations in cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i). Either chelation of extracellular Ca2+ with EGTA or treatment with nifedipine inhibited spontaneous [Ca2+]i fluctuations, indicating that the [Ca2+]i profile was dependent on the entry of extracellular Ca2+ via voltage-operated Ca2+ channels (VOCC). Spontaneous [Ca2+]i ...