Noticias
Jul 21
Cover in Molecular Psychiatry to a collaborative work by Juanma Encinas
The collaboration work unveiled the molecular mechanisms that explain how, as the brain ages, hippocampal neural stem cells slow down their mitotic activity and prevent their depletion.
Our colleague Juanma Encinas collaborated with Dr. Carlos Fitzsimons from the University of Amsterdam in the recently published article entitled "Circadian glucocorticoid oscillations preserve a population of adult hippocampal neural stem cells in the aging brain" published in the prestigious journal Molecular Psychiatry and has been given de cover for the July's issue.
Jul 11
Brain extracellular microenvironment and Parkinson's disease
An intriguing interplay between the extracellular space, matrix and glia
In a new study published in Nature Communications by Dr. Federico N. Soria and other colleagues have been able to "illuminate" the extracellular compartment of parkinsonian mice, revealing its structure and diffusion at an unprecedented scale.
Hereby, they obtained precious information about this dark side of the brain, for the first time in pathological conditions. This examination at "super-resolution" allowed the researchers to discover local alterations in the extracellular space of the parkinsonian brain, modify them, and protect partially the neurons that are normally lost in this pathology. Moreover, the study describes an intriguing relation between the hyaluronan matrix (main component of the neural matrix) and microglia (the chief immune cell in the brain). In particular, how these cells remodel the extracellular matrix by phagocytosis, reducing it in an animal model of Parkinson's disease. This, in turn, exacerbates further activation of microglia, creating a positive feedback loop.
May 27
A novel genetic technology for functional mapping of the entire brain
Our colleague Mazahir T. Hasan has achieved a grant by the BRAIN Initiative funded with 300.000 euros
The BRAIN Initiative, the scientific flagship of the Obama administration in the US has granted a project for the first time in Spain. Prof. Mazahir T. Hasan, an Ikerbasque Professor at ACHUCARRO will lead a two-year project to unveil novel genetic tools for full brain scale integrated activity mapping with MRI, using genetically-encoded magnetic indicators (GEMIs).
The project will foster a collaboration with other researchers and institutions within the Basque Science and Technology network, such as Prof. Dr. Pedro Ramos Cabrer at the CIC biomaGUNE and with Prof. Dr. Jesús Cortés Díaz at the Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, consolidating an interdisciplinary partnership that covers synthetic biology, MRI data acquisition and analyses.
The NIH, the funding agency for the BRAIN Initiative has granted 300.000 euros for the launch of this exploratory project that expects to reach the objectives by mid-2022.
Jun 25
Una nueva tecnología genética permitirá hacer un mapeo funcional de todo el cerebro
La plataforma iTemas ha publicado un video explicativo sobre este proyecto
La iniciativa BRAIN, el buque insignia en el ámbito de la ciencia que fue impulsado por la administracion Obama en EEUU ha otorgado una subvención para el desarrollo de un proyecto de investigación pionero, en el centro ACHUCARRO del campus de la UPV/EHU en Leioa.
Este proyecto colaborativo, dirigido por el investigador Ikerbasque, el Dr. Mazahir T. Hasan, persigue abrir nuevas fronteras en el mapeo y el seguimiento de los circuitos cerebrales que participan en los procesos cognitivos, así como en algunas enfermedades. Más allá de la investigación básica, el ambicioso proyecto también tiene como objetivo abrir oportunidades únicas para probar y rastrear el efecto de la terapéutica en la dinámica del circuito de todo el cerebro para el tratamiento y la cura de las disfunciones cerebrales relacionadas con el circuito, proporcionando así inmensos potenciales para abordar diversas enfermedades del cerebro humano en el futuro.
Este proyecto catalizará la colaboración ya existente entre tres centros de la red vasca de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, como son el CIC biomaGUNE de Donostia – San Sebastián, con el Dr. Pedro Ramos Cabrer al frente, y el Instituto de Investigaciones Sanitarias BioCruces Bizkaia, con el Dr. Jesús Cortés Díaz.
Jun 02
Geoffrey Burnstock obituary
A former and honorary member of our International Scientific Advisory Committee
Professor Geoffrey Burnstock (born in 10 May 1929) died on 2nd June, 2020 in Melbourne (Australia), following a short illness.