Primary cortical neurons form calcium-phosphate sheets with a bone-precursor-like ultrastructure.

Calcium-phosphate is a critical component in healthy bone and teeth formation, but its pathologic buildup in brain can occur in dyshomeostatic calcium disorders like Alzheimer's disease and Leigh syndrome. Extracellular calcium-phosphate in the nervous system is not well understood, but prior evidence suggests mitochondria as a potential source. Recently, large unidentified double-membrane-bound hyper-electron dense sheet aggregates of unknown content were reported in Huntington's disease model neurons using cryo-ET that were absent in wild-type control neurons.

Subcellular functions of tau mediate repair response and synaptic homeostasis in injury.

Injury responses in terminally differentiated cells such as neurons are tightly regulated by pathways aiding homeostatic maintenance. Cancer patients subjected to neuronal injury in brain radiation experience cognitive declines similar to those seen in primary neurodegenerative diseases. Numerous studies have investigated the effect of radiation in proliferating cells of the brain, yet the impact in differentiated, post-mitotic neurons, especially the structural and functional alterations remain largely elusive.

Rac-maninoff and Rho-vel: The symphony of Rho-GTPase signaling at excitatory synapses.

Synaptic connections between neurons are essential for every facet of human cognition and are thus regulated with extreme precision. Rho-family GTPases, molecular switches that cycle between an active GTP-bound state and an inactive GDP-bound state, comprise a critical feature of synaptic regulation. Rho-GTPases are exquisitely controlled by an extensive suite of activators (GEFs) and inhibitors (GAPs and GDIs) and interact with many different signalling pathways to fulfill their roles in orchestrating the development, maintenance, and plasticity of excitatory synapses of the central nervous system.

Sociodemographic Factors in Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery.

Background: Despite documented efficacy of surgical treatment in carefully selected patients, surgery is delayed and/or underutilized in both adult and children with focal onset epilepsy. The reasons for surgical delay are often assumed or theorized, and studies have predominantly targeted the adult population. To focus on a more targeted pediatric population and to determine identifiable reasons for intervention, this study aimed to investigate time to epilepsy surgery among pediatric patients with medically intractable epilepsy associated with focal cortical dysplasia and to identify sociodemographic and clinical associations in time to epilepsy surgery.