U of T researchers identify a protein

Researchers at the University of Toronto have a protein that identifies a key role in the development of neurons that plays our understanding of how the brain works and could encourage occur as diseases like Alzheimer's. U of T doctoral student, John Calarco, working in the laboratories of Professor Ben Blencowe (Donnelly Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto) and Professor Zhen Mei (Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute), Mount Sinai Hospital is to identify a protein known as nSR100 which is found only in vertebrate species, and a network of "alternative splicing events" that new genes that are critical functions in the formation of the nervous system controls. The results are published in Cell, in an article in the latest issue of the journal.

Events alternative splicing greatly expand the diversity of the genetic message and the corresponding genes in the protein produced by cells of vertebrates, and this process partly explains the development of a remarkable complexity in organs like the brain of mammals. Calarco, recipient of a prestigious Alexander Graham Bell trainee, in collaboration with colleagues in the lab Blencowe, nSR100 identified on the theoretical and experimental methods, and determine its role in the control of alternative splicing in the brain. These studies have shown nSR100 events splicing genes that are regulated help neurons form.

Employees and co-author Brian Ciruna and colleagues at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Torontofurther showed that nSR100 a crucial role in the game development of vertebrate nervous system.

"The brain is by far the most complex organ in the human body and understand how it works has created one of the greatest challenges of biomedical research. A variety of neurological diseases where the development and operation of certain neurons is compromised. A major goal of research is the key genes for the specification and function of nerve cells in the brain need to identify and nSR100 such a gene is, "said Professor Blencowe, principal investigator of Chambers.

Calarco said that the results present a new avenue of investigation by researchers. "This study provides a fascinating insight into the development of a single protein has helped to expand the complexity of the brain in vertebrates - including humans.

Further investigation into the complex network of splicing events regulated nSR100 can discover aspects of the functioning of nerve cells function normally and how they are affected in neurological diseases like Alzheimer's disease. "