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Nature Sep 2023Only recently have more specific circuit-probing techniques become available to inform previous reports implicating the rodent hippocampus in orexigenic appetitive...
Only recently have more specific circuit-probing techniques become available to inform previous reports implicating the rodent hippocampus in orexigenic appetitive processing. This function has been reported to be mediated at least in part by lateral hypothalamic inputs, including those involving orexigenic lateral hypothalamic neuropeptides, such as melanin-concentrating hormone. This circuit, however, remains elusive in humans. Here we combine tractography, intracranial electrophysiology, cortico-subcortical evoked potentials, and brain-clearing 3D histology to identify an orexigenic circuit involving the lateral hypothalamus and converging in a hippocampal subregion. We found that low-frequency power is modulated by sweet-fat food cues, and this modulation was specific to the dorsolateral hippocampus. Structural and functional analyses of this circuit in a human cohort exhibiting dysregulated eating behaviour revealed connectivity that was inversely related to body mass index. Collectively, this multimodal approach describes an orexigenic subnetwork within the human hippocampus implicated in obesity and related eating disorders.
Topics: Humans; Body Mass Index; Cohort Studies; Cues; Electrophysiology; Evoked Potentials; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Feeding Behavior; Food; Hippocampus; Obesity; Orexins; Neural Pathways
PubMed: 37648849
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06459-w -
Nature Oct 2023Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) can provide long-term symptom relief for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, achieving stable... (Clinical Trial)
Clinical Trial
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subcallosal cingulate (SCC) can provide long-term symptom relief for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, achieving stable recovery is unpredictable, typically requiring trial-and-error stimulation adjustments due to individual recovery trajectories and subjective symptom reporting. We currently lack objective brain-based biomarkers to guide clinical decisions by distinguishing natural transient mood fluctuations from situations requiring intervention. To address this gap, we used a new device enabling electrophysiology recording to deliver SCC DBS to ten TRD participants (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01984710). At the study endpoint of 24 weeks, 90% of participants demonstrated robust clinical response, and 70% achieved remission. Using SCC local field potentials available from six participants, we deployed an explainable artificial intelligence approach to identify SCC local field potential changes indicating the patient's current clinical state. This biomarker is distinct from transient stimulation effects, sensitive to therapeutic adjustments and accurate at capturing individual recovery states. Variable recovery trajectories are predicted by the degree of preoperative damage to the structural integrity and functional connectivity within the targeted white matter treatment network, and are matched by objective facial expression changes detected using data-driven video analysis. Our results demonstrate the utility of objective biomarkers in the management of personalized SCC DBS and provide new insight into the relationship between multifaceted (functional, anatomical and behavioural) features of TRD pathology, motivating further research into causes of variability in depression treatment.
Topics: Humans; Artificial Intelligence; Biomarkers; Deep Brain Stimulation; Depression; Depressive Disorder, Major; Electrophysiology; Treatment Outcome; Local Field Potential Measurement; White Matter; Limbic Lobe; Facial Expression
PubMed: 37730990
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06541-3 -
Biophysical Reviews Jun 2023This commentary article represents the latest edition of the Biophysical Reviews 'Editors' Roundup' Series - a platform made available to the editorial board members of...
This commentary article represents the latest edition of the Biophysical Reviews 'Editors' Roundup' Series - a platform made available to the editorial board members of any journal with a genuine interest in promoting biophysical content. Each journal associated editor is able to submit a short description of up to five articles recently appearing in their journals with an explanation of why these articles are of interest. This edition (Vol. 15 Issue 3 June 2023) carries contributions from editorial members associated with Biophysics and Physicobiology (Biophysical Society of Japan), Biophysics (Russian Academy of Sciences), Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics (Springer), and Biophysical Reviews (IUPAB-International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics).
PubMed: 37396446
DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01077-2 -
Current Opinion in Microbiology Aug 2023The formation of lateral microdomains is emerging as a central organizing principle in bacterial membranes. These microdomains are targets of antibiotic development and... (Review)
Review
The formation of lateral microdomains is emerging as a central organizing principle in bacterial membranes. These microdomains are targets of antibiotic development and have the potential to enhance natural product synthesis, but the rules governing their assembly are unclear. Previous studies have suggested that microdomain formation is promoted by lipid phase separation, particularly by cardiolipin (CL) and isoprenoid lipids, and there is strong evidence that CL biosynthesis is required for recruitment of membrane proteins to cell poles and division sites. New work demonstrates that additional bacterial lipids may mediate membrane protein localization and function, opening the field for mechanistic evaluation of lipid-driven membrane organization in vivo.
Topics: Membrane Proteins; Membranes; Bacteria; Cardiolipins; Biophysics; Cell Membrane
PubMed: 37058914
DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2023.102315 -
Annual Review of Neuroscience Jul 2023How neurons detect the direction of motion is a prime example of neural computation: Motion vision is found in the visual systems of virtually all sighted animals, it is... (Review)
Review
How neurons detect the direction of motion is a prime example of neural computation: Motion vision is found in the visual systems of virtually all sighted animals, it is important for survival, and it requires interesting computations with well-defined linear and nonlinear processing steps-yet the whole process is of moderate complexity. The genetic methods available in the fruit fly and the charting of a connectome of its visual system have led to rapid progress and unprecedented detail in our understanding of how neurons compute the direction of motion in this organism. The picture that emerged incorporates not only the identity, morphology, and synaptic connectivity of each neuron involved but also its neurotransmitters, its receptors, and their subcellular localization. Together with the neurons' membrane potential responses to visual stimulation, this information provides the basis for a biophysically realistic model of the circuit that computes the direction of visual motion.
Topics: Animals; Motion Perception; Visual Pathways; Drosophila; Vision, Ocular; Neurons; Photic Stimulation
PubMed: 37428604
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080422-111929 -
Biophysical Reviews Dec 2023This Editorial for the IUPAB journal (2023 volume 15 issue 6) first provides an overview of the contents of this "Regular Issue featuring an Issue Focus on the...
This Editorial for the IUPAB journal (2023 volume 15 issue 6) first provides an overview of the contents of this "Regular Issue featuring an Issue Focus on the Computational Biophysics of Atomic Force Microscopy" before going on to highlight some of the notable work published in the journal throughout 2023. Highlights of the current Issue include the contributed review article by Antonio Benedetto, winner of the 2023 Michèle Auger Award for Young Scientists' Independent Research, the latest installment of the "Biophysical Reviews Top 5 Series" authored by Angela Dulhunty, and an Issue Focus on the topic of computational aspects of atomic force microscopy generated from an IUPAB-sponsored workshop held in 2022.
PubMed: 38192338
DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01177-z -
Herzschrittmachertherapie &... Jun 2023
Topics: Humans; Cardiac Electrophysiology; Electrophysiological Phenomena
PubMed: 37253990
DOI: 10.1007/s00399-023-00946-3 -
Annual Review of Biochemistry Jun 2023SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) protein complexes are an evolutionarily conserved family of motor proteins that hold sister chromatids together and fold... (Review)
Review
SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) protein complexes are an evolutionarily conserved family of motor proteins that hold sister chromatids together and fold genomes throughout the cell cycle by DNA loop extrusion. These complexes play a key role in a variety of functions in the packaging and regulation of chromosomes, and they have been intensely studied in recent years. Despite their importance, the detailed molecular mechanism for DNA loop extrusion by SMC complexes remains unresolved. Here, we describe the roles of SMCs in chromosome biology and particularly review in vitro single-molecule studies that have recently advanced our understanding of SMC proteins. We describe the mechanistic biophysical aspects of loop extrusion that govern genome organization and its consequences.
Topics: Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; Multiprotein Complexes; Chromosomes; DNA; Cell Cycle Proteins
PubMed: 37137166
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-032620-110506 -
Biophysical Reviews Oct 2023This special issue of Biophysical Reviews contains the materials presented at the VII Congress of Biophysicists of Russia, held from 17 to 23 April in Krasnodar. We...
This special issue of Biophysical Reviews contains the materials presented at the VII Congress of Biophysicists of Russia, held from 17 to 23 April in Krasnodar. We believe that we have managed to prepare a selection of articles that well reflects the current state of biophysical science in Russia and its place in the world science. The VII Russian Congress on Biophysics was held in Krasnodar in April 2023, continuing the tradition of the series of biophysics conferences held every 4 years. The congress discussed physical principles and mechanisms of biological processes occurring at different life levels-from molecular to cellular and population levels. The results of fundamental and applied research in molecular biophysics, cell biophysics, and biophysics of complex systems were presented at plenary, sectional, and poster sessions. The works in the field of medical biophysics and neurobiology were especially widely presented. The structure and dynamics of biopolymers and fundamental mechanisms underlying the effects of physicochemical factors on biological systems, membrane, and transport processes were actively discussed. Much attention was paid to new experimental methods of biophysical research, methods of bioinformatics, computer, and mathematical modeling as necessary tools of the research at all levels of living systems. Along with fundamental problems of studying biophysical mechanisms of regulation of processes at the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels, much attention was paid to applied research in the field of biotechnology and environmental monitoring. The Congress has formed the National Committee of Russian biophysicists.
PubMed: 37975012
DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01164-4 -
International Journal of Molecular... Aug 2023The membrane of a cell, often compared to a dynamic city border, carries out an intricate dance of controlling entry and exit, guarding the valuable life processes...
The membrane of a cell, often compared to a dynamic city border, carries out an intricate dance of controlling entry and exit, guarding the valuable life processes occurring inside [...].
Topics: Membranes; Biophysics
PubMed: 37628887
DOI: 10.3390/ijms241612708