Membrane protection against oxidative insults is achieved by the concerted action of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and endogenous lipophilic antioxidants such as ubiquinone and vitamin E. Deficienci...

Explore the critical distinctions between linear epitope and conformational epitope mapping in our comprehensive guide. Learn how epitope mapping techniques—ranging from peptide microarrays with overl...

The spatiotemporal organization of the postsynaptic density (PSD) is a fundamental determinant of synaptic transmission, information processing, and storage in the brain. The major bottleneck that prevents the direct and precise representation of the nanometer-scaled organization of excitatory glutamatergic synapses is the size of antibodies, nanobodies, and the genetically encoded fluorescent tags. Here, we introduce small, high affinity synthetic probes for simplified, high contrast visualization of excitatory synapses without the limitations of larger biomolecules. In vitro binding quantification together with microscopy-based evaluation identified eSylites, a series of fluorescent bivalent peptides comprising a dye, linker, and sequence composition that show remarkable cellular target selectivity. Applied on primary neurons or brain slices at nanomolar concentrations, eSylites specifically report PSD-95, the key orchestrator of glutamate receptor nanodomains juxtaposed to the presynaptic glutamate release sites that mediate fast synaptic transmission. The eSylite design minimizes a spatial dye offset and thereby enables visualization of PSD-95 with improved localization precision and further time-resolved discrimination. In particular, we find that individual dendritic spines can contain separate nanodomains enriched for either PSD-95 or its closest homologues, PSD-93 or SAP102. Collectively, these data establish eSylites as a broadly applicable tool for simplified excitatory synapse visualization, as well as a high-end microscopy compatible probe for resolving the PSD organization with unprecedented resolution.

Increase your recognition in the scientific world with short video-casts

Increase your recognition in the scientific world with short video-casts

There are many large language models to choose from; some excel at coding, whereas others are better for synthesizing information.

Blood biomarkers in a middle-aged population suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with greater brain β-amyloid plaque accumulation.

Climate change is expected to cause irreversible changes to biodiversity, but predicting those risks remains uncertain. I synthesized 485 studies and more than 5 million projections to produce a quantitative global assessment of climate change ...

Researchers in the MIT Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health developed a fully open-source biomolecular structure prediction model that achieves state-of-the-art performance, at the level of Al...

Three distinguished scientists on leaving academia to advance biomedical research

Some children who had COVID developed a severe inflammatory response that could put them in the ICU. Scientists have learned why it happens.

Nature Immunology - SLE is a heterogeneous disorder that is characterized by different immune endotypes. Faliti et al. follow the immune memory responses upon mRNA COVID-19 vaccinations in a large...

‘Epigenetics’ is the process by which distinct cell types or cell states are inherited through multiple cell divisions. ‘Epigenomics’ refers to DNA-associated physical and functional entities including histone modifications and DNA methylation, not concepts of inheritance. Conflating epigenetics and epigenomics is confusing and causes misunderstanding of a fundamental biological process.

A discussion of color blind friendly palettes for labeling unique catergories in data visualization.

Nasal IgA1 autoantibodies against IFN-α are associated with better COVID-19 prognosis, including fewer symptoms and robust anti–SARS-CoV-2 immunity.

Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) and polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) control endothelial gene expression for BBB development and prevented Wnt/β-catenin target genes from being expressed in adult CN...

Autoantibodies targeting glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartic acid receptors (NMDARs) are found in people with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Two studies reveal that patient-derived autoantibodies are diverse ...

Simple guidelines and a checklist are provided for performing high-quality equilibrium binding measurements.

Cellular & Molecular Immunology - Epigenetic regulation of B cells and its role in autoimmune pathogenesis

Nature Biomedical Engineering - Arrayed CRISPR libraries with each plasmid encoding an array of four non-overlapping single-guide RNAs allow for the efficient genome-wide ablation, activation and...

Lipopolysaccharide-induced breakdown of the blood–brain barrier requires activation of GSDMD-mediated plasma membrane permeabilization and pyroptosis in brain endothelial cells.

Mechanisms by which obesity and female sex synergize to facilitate CNS autoimmunity remain elusive. Cordeiro and Ahn et al. reveal a female-specific effect of obesity in triggering Th1 inflammatory si...

Can processes occurring in one individuals nervous system influence the physiology of the descendants? Here we explored the provocative hypothesis that parents sensation or perception of environmental...