Introduction: Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a technique which can be used to elicit ankle dorsiflexion (ADF). It is used in rehabilitation to improve mobility in patients with multiple sclerosis and stroke. Here we assess the use of concurrent electromyography (EMG) in guiding fMRI analysis so as to improve the detection of activation due to active, passive [1] and electrical-stimu...

The molecular mechanisms by which neurotrophins regulate growth cone motility are not well understood. This study investigated the signaling involved in transducing BDNF-induced increases of filopodial dynamics. Our results indicate that BDNF regulates filopodial length and number through a Rho kinase-dependent mechanism. Additionally, actin depolymerizing factor (ADF)/cofilin activity is neces...

Actin is a regulator of synaptic vesicle mobilization and exocytosis, but little is known about the mechanisms that regulate actin at presynaptic terminals. Genetic data on LIMK1, a negative regulator of actin-depolymerizing proteins of the ADF/cofilin family, suggest a role for ADF/cofilin in presynaptic function. However, synapse physiology is fully preserved upon genetic ablation of ADF in m...

ADF/cofilins are essential regulators of actin filament turnover. Several ADF/cofilin isoforms are found in multicellular organisms, but their biological differences have remained unclear. Here we show that three ADF/cofilins exist in mouse and most likely in all other mammalian species. Northern blot, and in situ hybridization analyses demonstrate that cofilin-1 is expressed in most cell types...

Turnover of actin networks in cells requires the fast disassembly of aging actin structures. While ADF/cofilin and Aip1 have been identified as central players, how their activities are modulated by the architecture of the networks remains unknown. Using our ability to reconstitute a diverse array of cellular actin organizations, we found that ADF/cofilin binding and ADF/cofilin-mediated disass...

Memory deficits in Drosophila nalyot mutants suggest that the Myb family transcription factor Adf-1 is an important regulator of developmental plasticity in the brain. However, the cellular functions for this transcription factor in neurons or molecular mechanisms by which it regulates plasticity remain unknown. Here, we use in vivo 3D reconstruction of identifiable larval motor neuron dendrite...