Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) are members of the MAPK family and participate in the transduction of stimuli in cellular responses. Their long-term actions are accomplished by promoting the ...

The identification of new biomarkers is of high interest for the prediction of the disease course and also for the identification of pathomechanisms in multiple sclerosis (MS). To specify markers of the chronic disease ...

Myelination of axons facilitates rapid impulse propagation in the nervous system. The axon/myelin-unit becomes impaired in myelin-related disorders and upon normal aging. However, the molecular cause of many pathological ...

We have developed a novel method for multi-color spectral FRET analysis which is used to study a system of three independent FRET-based molecular sensors composed of the combinations of only three fluorescent proteins. ...

Background: Depression and bipolar disorder are associated with reduced neural plasticity and deficits in memory, attention and executive function. Drug treatments for these affective disorders have insufficient clinical ...

Recent studies showed that respiratory rhythm generation depends on oscillators located in the pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC) and the parafacial respiratory group (pFRG). To study inhibitory synaptic interactions between ...

Background: In recent years, considerable knowledge has been gained on the molecular mechanisms underlying retinal cell fate specification. However, hitherto studies focused primarily on the six major retinal cell classes ...

Traumatic brain injury causes progressive brain atrophy and cognitive decline. Surprisingly, an early treatment with erythropoietin (EPO) prevents these consequences of secondary neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms have ...

Many neuropathological and experimental studies suggest that the degeneration of dopaminergic terminals and axons precedes the demise of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, which finally results in the clinical ...

Reciprocal interactions between neurons and oligodendrocytes are not only crucial for myelination, but also for long-term survival of axons. Degeneration of axons occurs in several human myelin diseases, however the ...