University of Göttingen

About: University of Göttingen is a education organization based out in Göttingen, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 43851 authors who have published 86318 publications receiving 3010295 citations. The organization is also known as: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen & Universität Göttingen.

Transcranial focused ultrasound modulates the activity of primary somatosensory cortex in humans

Abstract: Improved methods of noninvasively modulating human brain function are needed. Here we probed the influence of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) targeted to the human primary somatosensory cortex (S1) on sensory-evoked brain activity and sensory discrimination abilities. The lateral and axial spatial resolution of the tFUS beam implemented were 4.9 mm and 18 mm, respectively. Electroencephalographic recordings showed that tFUS significantly attenuated the amplitudes of somatosensory evoked potentials elicited by median nerve stimulation. We also found that tFUS significantly modulated the spectral content of sensory-evoked brain oscillations. The changes produced by tFUS on sensory-evoked brain activity were abolished when the acoustic beam was focused 1 cm anterior or posterior to S1. Behavioral investigations showed that tFUS targeted to S1 enhanced performance on sensory discrimination tasks without affecting task attention or response bias. We conclude that tFUS can be used to focally modulate human cortical function.

α-Neurexins couple Ca 2+ channels to synaptic vesicle exocytosis

Abstract: Synapses are specialized intercellular junctions in which cell adhesion molecules connect the presynaptic machinery for neurotransmitter release to the postsynaptic machinery for receptor signalling. Neurotransmitter release requires the presynaptic co-assembly of Ca2+ channels with the secretory apparatus, but little is known about how synaptic components are organized. Alpha-neurexins, a family of >1,000 presynaptic cell-surface proteins encoded by three genes, link the pre- and postsynaptic compartments of synapses by binding extracellularly to postsynaptic cell adhesion molecules and intracellularly to presynaptic PDZ domain proteins. Using triple-knockout mice, we show that alpha-neurexins are not required for synapse formation, but are essential for Ca2+-triggered neurotransmitter release. Neurotransmitter release is impaired because synaptic Ca2+ channel function is markedly reduced, although the number of cell-surface Ca2+ channels appears normal. These data suggest that alpha-neurexins organize presynaptic terminals by functionally coupling Ca2+ channels to the presynaptic machinery.

Mutations involved in Aicardi-Goutières syndrome implicate SAMHD1 as regulator of the innate immune response.

Abstract: Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome is a mendelian mimic of congenital infection and also shows overlap with systemic lupus erythematosus at both a clinical and biochemical level The recent identification of mutations in TREX1 and genes encoding the RNASEH2 complex and studies of the function of TREX1 in DNA metabolism have defined a previously unknown mechanism for the initiation of autoimmunity by interferon-stimulatory nucleic acid Here we describe mutations in SAMHD1 as the cause of AGS at the AGS5 locus and present data to show that SAMHD1 may act as a negative regulator of the cell-intrinsic antiviral response