Upregulation of cholinergic modulators Lypd6 and Lypd6b associated with autism drives anxiety and cognitive decline
A duplication of the chromosomal region 2q23.q23.2, carrying LYPD6 and LYPD6B genes, leads to intellectual disability and autistic features. Researchers from the Neurotransmitter and Neuroreceptor Bioengineering Laboratory, Shemyakin-Ovchnnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of RAS together with colleagues from Lomonosov State University and Institute for Biomedical Problems of RAS, used a mouse model to study the consequences of overexpression of the Lypd6 and Lypd6b proteins in the brain, which is typical for patients with autism and other neuropsychiatric disorders. A two-week intracerebral infusion of recombinant Lypd6 and Lypd6b analogs impaired memory, increased acute anxiety, reduced dendritic spine density in the hippocampus and amygdala, and led to decreased expression of endogenous Lypd6, Lypd6b, and the α7 nicotinic receptor in the hippocampus. Moreover, in the work I shown that Lypd6b, Like Lypd6, is a negative allosteric modulator of nicotinic receptors. The work is supported by the Russian Science Foundation and published in the journal Cell Death Discovery (IF 6.1).
News 
- Alexander Vassilevski is elected as the Chair of the European Section of the International Society on Toxinology
science news
XII.4 The International Society on Toxinology (IST) unites scientists and clinicians studying venoms, poisons, and toxins from all over the world. The society was founded in 1962. It organizes world and regional congresses, publishes the journal Toxicon, and sponsors the prestigious Redi Award.
- Upregulation of cholinergic modulators Lypd6 and Lypd6b associated with autism drives anxiety and cognitive decline
science news
XI.18 A duplication of the chromosomal region 2q23.q23.2, carrying LYPD6 and LYPD6B genes, leads to intellectual disability and autistic features. Researchers from the Neurotransmitter and Neuroreceptor Bioengineering Laboratory, Shemyakin-Ovchnnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of RAS together with colleagues from Lomonosov State University and Institute for Biomedical Problems of RAS, used a mouse model to study the consequences of overexpression of the Lypd6 and Lypd6b proteins in the brain, which is typical for patients with autism and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Origin, Evolution and Diversity of φ29-like Phages
science news
X.11 The application of the definition of taxonomic species to the description of evolutionary history of biological objects with chimeric genomes is a difficult task. The limited period of the existence of species and the lability of viral genomes can also make attempts to reconstruct the evolutionary history almost pointless. The processes of genetic exchange seem to be especially pronounced in temperate phages, but genetic rearrangements between evolutionarily close groups of phages can also affect φ29-like phages. However, we can try to plot the evolutionary traits of genes encoding separate essential proteins and their stable complexes.