Additional Resources

Brainscapes by Vivian Budnik

In inceptum finis est

The snake bitting its tail ("ouroboros') is an ancient symbol used in many cultures, to indicate the circularity of life processes. In this paper (Korkut et al, (2013). "Regulation of postsynaptic retrograde signaling by presynaptic exosome release." Neuron 77: 1039-1039) we find that retrograde signals are also circular. The end is the retrograde signal, but the beginning is the release of Syt4 by presynaptic cells. Drawing in black ink, modified using Image J software. Cover of Neuron (2013)77.

Defeating axon death

Caption:"Defeating Axon Death".

Sometimes, depending on genetics, axons continue to survive, even without cell bodies. Drawing dedicated to Dr. Marc Freeman and his paper: Osterloh et al (2012) dSarm/Sarm is required for activation of an injury-induced axon death pathway. Science 27:481.

Distilling the signal

Caption: "Distilling the Signal"

Hunger makes Drosophila larvae move faster in search of food. Koon and colleagues (Koon et al (2011) Autoregulatory and paracrine control of synaptic and behavioral plasticity by octopaminergic signaling. Nat Neurosci 14: 190-199) show that starvation increased branching of octopaminergic motor neurons' axonal terminal arbors, driven by octopamine released from these same motor neurons. The increased locomotor activity of starved larvae required octopaminergic signaling. On the cover is a drawing by Vivian Budnik.

exosome harvest

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The great nuclear escape

Caption: "The great nuclear escape"

Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) have long been assumed to be the sole gateway for macromolecular transport in and out of the nucleus. Speese et al. (Cell (2012) 149: 832-846) provide evidence that, during Wnt-regulated synapse development, large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granules carrying postsynaptic mRNAs are exported out of the nucleus through an alternative mechanism. The granules bud through the nuclear envelope. Although this mechanism has been previously demonstrated for the nuclear egress of herpes-type viruses, Speese et al. now suggest that exit through nuclear envelope budding is an endogenous mechanism for the export of large RNPs. The drawing, “Searching the way out of the nucleus,” represents a long journey through “brainscapes,” searching for a route out of the postsynaptic nucleus. In the end, the only way out was budding across the nuclear envelope. Ink drawing by Vivian Budnik, modified using ImageJ software. Cover issue.

migration

Caption: "Migration"

To Steven Reppert. An ink drawing of monarch butterflies migrating through their genetically programmed “internal” landscape. Each fall, millions of monarchs migrate from eastern North America to their overwintering grounds in central Mexico. In this issue, a highly efficient gene-targeting approach, using zinc-finger nucleases, is used to define an essential transcriptional repressor as part of the genetic basis of the long-distance monarch migration, where an intact circadian clock is necessary for proper sun compass navigation. (Cover illustration by Vivian Budnik. [For details, see Merlin et al,Genome Research (2013) 21: 159–168.])

glia

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glial feast

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in search of my memories

Caption: "In search of my memories"

The changes in synaptic connec

all eyes on you

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a side door at the nuclear envelope

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nuclearscape

caption: "Nuclearscape": an explanation to HHMI

To Melissa Moore for her HHMI renewal. Large RNA–protein particles exit the nucleus by fusing with and budding through the nuclear envelope.

The eye and the homeobox

in inceptvm finis est

Synaptic intimacy

Caption: "Synaptic intimancy"

Wnts have emerged as critical, evolutionarily conserved signals for synapse maturation and synaptic plasticity. Korkut et al. (pp. 393–404) show that the Drosophila Wnt Wingless is transported across the synapse through the use of an exosome-like vesicle containing the Wnt-binding protein Evenness Interrupted/Wntless. Although the release of exosome-like vesicles has been documented in the immune system, the release of such vesicles by synapses has not previously been recognized as a means of synaptic communication. The cover artwork is an ink drawing by Vivian Budnik.