Dr. Bonnie Kaplan discusses questions on issues surrounding evidence-based nutritional interventions for improving brain health and treating mental health issues in adults and children.
Amazing Facts About Micronutrients and Brain Health
Patient Talk
Why are male mice afraid of bananas?
Researchers from McGill University have identified a form of chemical signaling in mice to defend their offspring. The researchers found that proximity to pregnant and lactating female mice increased stress hormones in males and even decreased their sensitivity to pain. “The findings have important implications for improving the reliability and reproducibility of experiments involving mice. This is yet another example of a previously unknown factor in the lab environment that can affect the results of scientific studies,” says Jeffrey Mogil, a Professor in the Department of Psychology at McGill University and E. P. Taylor Chair in Pain Studies.
According to co-author Sarah Rosen, “what is likely happening is that female mice are signaling to males who might be considering attacking their babies that they will defend them vigorously. It’s the threat of the possible upcoming fight that causes the stress.”
“Mice have richer communication with one another than we think; it’s just that a lot of it’s through smell,” says Mogil. The researchers started looking for the olfactory chemical responsible. Several odorants were identified, but one, n-pentyl acetate, which is released in the urine of pregnant and lactating female mice, was especially effective at producing stress in male mice. “Curiously, n-pentyl acetate is also responsible for the unique smell of bananas. After a quick trip to the supermarket for some banana oil, we were able to confirm that the smell of banana extract stressed the male mice just as much as the pregnant females,” says co-author Lucas Lima.
The finding represents a breakthrough in the science of mammalian social signaling. “There are a number of examples of male-to-female olfactory signaling in rodents, but far fewer examples of female-to-male signaling, especially outside of the realm of sexual behavior,” says Mogil.
“Growing end” of inflammation discovered
of the junction between the danger sensor NLRP3 and its signal protein, shown in magnification with the calculated protein structure. CREDITImage: Inga V. Hochheiser
Redness, swelling, pain – these are signs of inflammation. It serves to protect the body from pathogens or foreign substances. Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Cologne were able to show that inflammatory reactions of an important sensor protein proceed in a specific spatial direction. This finding has the potential to conceivably stop inflammation at the “growing end”, and thus bring chronic inflammatory diseases to a halt. The study has now been published in the journal “Science Advances“.
If bacteria or viruses attack living cells or other foreign substances appear in them, the danger sensor with the abbreviation NLRP3 is activated. “The protein deposits in the brain that are characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease, the so-called amyloid-ß plaques, can also set NLRP3 in motion,” says Prof. Dr. Matthias Geyer from the Institute for Structural Biology at the University Hospital Bonn, referring to earlier studies. As these previous studies by the researcher’s show, this reaction increasingly fuels itself: The inflammatory reaction triggered by NLRP3 promotes the further deposition of amyloid-ß plaques and contributes significantly to the disease process.
Once activated, several NLRP3 proteins attach to each other and in this way form the nucleus for a thread-like structure at which more and more proteins gather. “The reaction kicks in as soon as about a dozen of the NLRP3 molecules are present,” Geyer reports. In theory, an infinite number of NLRP3 molecules can join together and extend the thread-like structure – scientifically called a “filament” – further and further. Inga Hochheiser from Prof. Geyer’s team has now been able to show the direction in which this filament grows and continues to expand. “We were able to gain these insights using cryo-electron microscopy. This method makes it possible to observe protein molecules with up to 80,000-fold magnification and thus make them directly visible,” says Hochheiser.
“Still image” of the thread-like structure under the microscope
In tiny steps, the scientist drizzled NLRP3 isolated from cells onto a sample carrier and flash-froze this mixture. This provided the researchers with a kind of “still image” under the cryo-electron microscope. The emerging thread-like structure of NLRP3 molecules arranged side by side was thus visualized. “These individual images made it possible to understand how the filaments elongate, just like in a film,” says Hochheiser. As the molecules fall differently on the sample carrier when drizzled, they can be seen from different perspectives under the microscope. These different views can be combined on the computer to create a three-dimensional image. The results showed that the filaments only form in one direction. “This allowed us to visualize part of the inflammatory apparatus and literally read the direction of growth,” says Prof. Geyer, who led the study and is a member of the Cluster of Excellence ImmunoSensation2 and the Transdisciplinary Research Area “Life and Health” at the University of Bonn.
Stopping chronic inflammatory diseases
“The technical challenge was to find the transitions in the thread-like structures and make them visible in the image,” says Prof. Dr. Elmar Behrmann from the Institute for Biochemistry at the University of Cologne. “The new findings now allow us to target the growing end of the inflammatory response using antibodies or drugs,” Hochheiser explains. This brings the researchers closer to their goal of stopping the further build-up of the inflammatory apparatus and thus counteracting chronic inflammation.
Chronically Ill, Very Healthy
Eleven years ago, Pat was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting progressive multiple sclerosis. After losing his ability to walk he had to make some major adjustments like giving up golf and cycling and using a wheelchair. Pat has replaced the things he’s lost with curiosity about himself and people and how we think and see the world, giving him a healthier, more grounded perspective on life and its importance. Pat is still working and may have lost some mobility but has been compensated generously with insight and the time to share it with those who are open to different perspectives.
Music Therapy and its Impact on the Brain
Elizabeth Stegemöller presents at the TEDx IowaStateUniversity event on music therapy and its impact on the brain. She is a music therapist and utilizes music therapy to treat people with Parkinson’s disease. Ms Elizabeth Stegemöller is an assistant professor at Iowa State University in the Department of Kinesiology and is known nationally as the neuroscience expert in music therapy. Stegemöller is also an advocate for furthering research into Parkinson’s disease.