There Is A New Way Of Cell Communication in The Brain, Mediated By Exosomes

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Blockbuster discovery: There is a new way of cell communication in the brain, mediated by exosomes

We know that neurons transmit neurotransmitters through synapses, which move from one neuron to adjacent neurons to send, receive and transmit signals throughout the brain. In addition, hormones circulate through the brain to influence the growth of brain cells and help create new connections between neurons.

Scientists studying neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's have found that proteins such as tau, alpha-synuclein, move more independently between different cells in the brain and may be associated with the disease itself. So, does this direct protein transfer between neurons also occur in a healthy brain?

Recently, researchers from the Scripps Institute and Duke University School of Medicine published a research paper entitled: Proteomic screen reveals diverse protein transport between connected neurons in the visual system in Cell Reports, a sub-journal of Cell.

Using protein labeling and identification strategies, the study discovered and confirmed the existence of a new cellular communication mode in the healthy brain that transports a large number of proteins between neurons via exosomes. The discovery helps to better understand neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

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In fact, previous studies have found that proteins originating from one cell in the brain appear in another. However, these studies cannot rule out the possibility that these proteins are degraded into amino acids and then reassembled in other cells.

In the new study, the research team used a biotin molecular tag (biotin) to tag proteins, ensuring that only proteins that remained intact were tracked. If the protein is degraded, the biotin molecular tag will not reintegrate into the newly synthesized protein.

The research team tagged retinal ganglion cells introduced into the eyes of rats, and 11 days later, they examined cells in the brain's visual cortex, the area of the brain responsible for processing vision, that is at a distance from retinal ganglion cells.

To assess the prevalence and properties of direct protein transfer between brain cells, the research team used electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, and other methods to comprehensively examine biotin-labeled proteins in the visual neural circuit. They found about 200 labeled proteins and These protein species were further characterized.

Electron microscopy revealed that biotin-labeled proteins were preferentially transferred from retinoid input to excitatory lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) neurons compared with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons. Mass spectrometry-based unbiased screening identified approximately 200 transneuronal transporters (TNTPs) isolated from the visual cortex. Most of these transneuronal transport proteins (TNTPs) were present in neuronal exosomes, and viral TNTPs, including tau and β-synuclein, were detected in isolated exosomes and postsynaptic neurons.

Proteomic analysis of TNTPs

These findings demonstrate new and distinct patterns of endogenous protein transfer between neurons in healthy intact brains and suggest that these transneuronal transport protein (TNTP) transport may be mediated by exosomes.

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Notably, transneuronal transport proteins (TNTPs) identified in the study include tau and beta-synuclein, two proteins that are transported between neurons in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. , suggesting that the transfer of these proteins is also present in healthy brains.

This study suggests to us that exosomes may be used to transport proteins between brain cells, which helps people to explore new communication methods between brain cells, and also helps to better understand Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease Nervous system diseases such as Kinson's disease.

Written by Wang Cong

Edit | Wang Duoyu

Typesetting | Shuichengwen

---Biological world