Cristian Bodo

King's College London | KCL · Randall Division of Cell and Molecular Biophysics

Lamellipodin (Lpd) functions as an important signalling integrator downstream of growth factor and axon guidance receptors. Mechanistically, Lpd promotes actin polymerization by interacting with F-actin and the actin e ectors Ena/VASP proteins and the SCAR/WAVE complex. Thereby, Lpd supports lamellipodia protrusion, cell migration and endocytosis....

Cell migration is essential for development, but its deregulation causes metastasis. The Scar/WAVE complex is absolutely required for lamellipodia and is a key effector in cell migration, but its regulation in vivo is enigmatic. Lamellipodin (Lpd) controls lamellipodium formation through an unknown mechanism. Here, we report that Lpd directly binds...

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays an essential role during development and diseases including cancer. Lamellipodin (Lpd) is known to control lamellipodia protrusion by regulating actin filament elongation via Ena/VASP proteins. However, it is unknown whether this mechanism supports endocytosis of the EGFR. Here, we have identified a...

The preferential expression of alleles that are inherited from one parent is known as genomic imprinting. This form of epigenetic regulation has been suggested to have a substantial role in brain development and function.

Retinal degeneration is characterized by the progressive loss of rod and cone photoreceptors. Two studies now show that reactivation of surviving retinal cells by expression of exogenous rhodopsins using gene therapy can restore the function of visual circuits, but that the success of this strategy depends on the cell population being targeted.

The organization of receptive fields in the primary auditory cortex (A1) during neonatal development can be altered by exposure to auditory stimuli. Changes in the balance between excitatory and inhibitory cortical inputs have been proposed to underlie this neonatal sensitivity, but how this balance is initially established and progressively modifi...

Release probability (pr), a measure of the likelihood of neurotransmitter release following an action potential, is an important determinant of synaptic strength. Correlational evidence has linked pr with the size of the readily releasable pool (RRP) of synaptic vesicles, which is defined as vesicles that are docked at the active zone.

Resilience to stress is highly variable among individuals. However, the neurobiological basis underlying this difference is not well understood.

Neural circuits that encode sensory inputs must be sensitive to small changes in the quality of a stimulus but must also be able to identify certain stimuli as identical despite minor variations caused by background 'noise'. A neural network could achieve this by classifying sensory inputs into discrete patterns of output activity.

Metabotropic GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) type B receptors (GABABRs) play an important part in the regulation of synaptic transmission as they inhibit presynaptic release and activate postsynaptic K⁺ channels. Now, Chalifoux and Carter show that GABABRs also suppress postsynaptic Ca²⁺ signals mediated by NMDARs (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors) and in...

The locus coeruleus is the major source of noradrenaline in the brain, and its degeneration in Alzheimer's disease is closely associated with the progression of symptoms. It has recently been shown that noradrenergic transmission can decrease amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition, but how it achieves this effect was unclear.

Angelman's syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes motor dysfunction, severe mental retardation and autistic behaviour. Most cases of the syndrome are associated with mutations in the maternal copy of the gene encoding ubiquitin protein ligase E3A (UBE3A), but how this gene contributes to normal nervous system development is unclear.

Normal brain function depends on the appropriate formation of neuronal networks during development. Genetic susceptibility factors to psychiatric disorders have been postulated to act by introducing slight perturbations to this neurodevelopmental programme that may lead to the manifestation of symptoms later in life.

Activity-dependent changes at the synapse require protein synthesis in order to persist for extended periods and to contribute to the formation of long-term memories. However, the proteins involved in the stabilization of synaptic changes are largely unknown.

When we handle an object, the relative movement between its surface and our skin provides the brain with valuable information about its characteristics. The existence of a subpopulation of neurons in the visual cortex that responds specifically to the direction of movement of a visual stimulus is widely known, but it remains unclear whether the per...

Most antidepressants that are currently available take several weeks to exert their effects, and clinical evidence has suggested co-administration of an antagonist of α2-adrenoceptors as a potential strategy to overcome this drawback. However, the mechanisms by which blockade of these receptors accelerates the improvements in mood are still largely...

It is well established that sexually dimorphic neural regions are organized by steroid hormones during development. In many species, neonatal males are exposed to more testosterone than their female littermates, and ultimately it is the estradiol, produced by aromatization of testosterone, that affects sexual differentiation. However, the androgen...

Olfactory signals play a central role in the identification of a mating partner in rodents, and the behavioral response to these cues varies markedly between the sexes. As several other sexually dimorphic traits, this response is thought to differentiate as a result of exposure of the developing individual to gonadal steroids, but both the identity...

GPR54 is a G-protein-coupled receptor, which binds kisspeptins and is widely expressed throughout the brain. Kisspeptin-GPR54 signaling has been implicated in the regulation of pubertal and adulthood gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion, and mutations or deletions of GPR54 cause hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in humans and mice. Other rep...

During sexual differentiation males and females are exposed to different levels of testosterone, which promotes sex differences in the adult brain and in behavior. Testosterone can act after aromatization or reduction via a number of steroid hormone receptors. Here we provide new evidence that the androgen receptor (AR) is essential for sexual diff...

In this review we critically examine the data on functions of the estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) in both behavior and neuroendocrinology. The influence of estradiol via the ERbeta has been assessed using several methods: estrogen receptor knockout mice, specific ERbeta selective agonists, and phytoestrogens which preferentially bind to ERbeta rath...

Sexual dimorphisms in the hypothalamus are mediated in several cases by local aromatization of androgens to estrogens during the perinatal period. In this series of experiments, the contributions of the two estrogen receptors (ERs), ERalpha and ERbeta, to the differentiation of the sexually dimorphic subpopulation of dopaminergic neurons in the ant...

Sex differences in brain and behavior are ubiquitous in sexually reproducing species. One cause of sexual dimorphisms is developmental differences in circulating concentrations of gonadal steroids. Neonatal testes produce androgens; thus, males are exposed to both testosterone and estradiol, whereas females are not exposed to high concentrations of...

Cadmium (Cd2+) is a potent toxic metal for both plants and animals. Chronic exposure to low doses of Cd2+ results in damage to several organs. We have previously reported that Cd2+ induces apoptosis in anterior pituitary cells by a caspase- and oxidative stress-dependent mechanism. Nitric oxide (NO) synthesis is affected by Cd2+ in several systems....

Nitric oxide (NO) plays a complex role in modulating programmed cell death. It can either protect the cell from apoptotic death or mediate apoptosis, depending on its concentration and the cell type and/or status. In this study, we demonstrate that long-term exposition to NO induces cell death of anterior pituitary cells from Wistar female rats. DE...

The estrogen receptor-beta (ERbeta) mediates estrogen action in the female gonads, reproductive tract, and central nervous system. In addition, in rats and mice, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH-I) neurons coexpress ERbeta. Here we asked if ERbeta plays a role in the onset of puberty and in hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis function in...

Cadmium (Cd(2+)) is an ubiquitous toxic metal that is involved in a variety of pathological conditions. Several reports indicate that Cd(2+) alters normal pituitary hormone secretion; however, little is known about the mechanisms that induce this misregulation. This paper reports the effect of Cd(2+) on anterior pituitary cell viability and its rel...

Nitric oxide (NO) affects the synthesis of several second messengers, such as cyclic nucleotides, arachidonic acid metabolites and the intracellular calcium concentration, involved in the anterior pituitary hormone release. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of NO on phosphoinositide metabolism. The synthesis of inositol phos...