Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
theatlantic.com
Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
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Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#2disclaimer: only read the abstract.
The original paper, linked in the article mentions the mRNA messaging. Intuitively that roughly makes sense -- other cells might have the luxury of being able to directly talk to each other, through physical contact or proximity, but with neurons that is made more difficult due to the possibility of extending electric signals. So carrying information through mRNA might work, but I wonder why mRNA? Why not skip the middle man and go straight for proteins? What's the use of doing it this way? ik I'm anthropomorphizing but it seems to make more sense to just send out proteins to communicate? Or maybe mRNA allows for more finetuning on the other end, and is a more efficient mechanism, since it can be read dozens of times, instead of just being a handful of proteins.....
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#3disclaimer: only read the abstract. The original paper, linked in the article mentions the mRNA messaging. Intuitively that roughly makes sense -- other cells might have the luxury of being able to directly talk to each other, through physical contact or proximity, but with neurons that is made more difficult due to the possibility of extending electric signals. So carrying information through mRNA might work, but I…
it's easy to encapsulate any sequence of mRNA; unless it contains extensive tertiary, while any random sequence of protein is going to fold into an irregular shape and probably also have some catalytic capability (such as proteoltyic) which would degrade the protein coat.
That said, GroEL does that (encapsulates various proteins and refolds them).
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#4disclaimer: only read the abstract. The original paper, linked in the article mentions the mRNA messaging. Intuitively that roughly makes sense -- other cells might have the luxury of being able to directly talk to each other, through physical contact or proximity, but with neurons that is made more difficult due to the possibility of extending electric signals. So carrying information through mRNA might work, but I…
>why mRNA? Why not skip the middle man and go straight for proteins?
There is no polypeptide decoding machinery in the cell, proteins are functional chains with a lot of structure.
However cells do use external protein structure to communicate with neighboring cells (via protein-protein interactions) now we know they can send messages via RNA as well.
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#5disclaimer: only read the abstract. The original paper, linked in the article mentions the mRNA messaging. Intuitively that roughly makes sense -- other cells might have the luxury of being able to directly talk to each other, through physical contact or proximity, but with neurons that is made more difficult due to the possibility of extending electric signals. So carrying information through mRNA might work, but I…
it's easy to encapsulate any sequence of mRNA; unless it contains extensive tertiary, while any random sequence of protein is going to fold into an irregular shape and probably also have some catalytic capability (such as proteoltyic) which would degrade the protein coat. That said, GroEL does that (encapsulates various proteins and refolds them).
And a capsid might be able to store a few proteins, or a few mRNAs. But a few mRNAs deposited into a cell could produce many thousand protiens.
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#6Is the mechanism of 'Arc' gene related to the dynamic routing process of Capsule networks [1, 2]?
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#7disclaimer: only read the abstract. The original paper, linked in the article mentions the mRNA messaging. Intuitively that roughly makes sense -- other cells might have the luxury of being able to directly talk to each other, through physical contact or proximity, but with neurons that is made more difficult due to the possibility of extending electric signals. So carrying information through mRNA might work, but I…
In addition to the reasons already posted, here's another: tuning mRNA degradation rates is something cells are already very good at. If tuning the effective communication distance is desirable, using mRNA would provide a ready-made set of tools to achieve it.
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#8Is the mechanism of 'Arc' gene related to the dynamic routing process of Capsule networks [1, 2]? [1] https://kndrck.co/posts/capsule_networks_explained/ [2] https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.09829
It has the same word in it, that's about it. Come on, use your brain a bit
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#9Never underestimate the bandwidth of a virus full of RNA.
Re: Brain Cells Share Information with Virus-Like Capsules
#10I find biology to be endlessly fascinating. I know this is terribly off-topic but, if you enjoy learning about this kind of information, I'd highly recommend 'The Gene: An Intimate History.' It's a lovely read that brings you from before Mendel up to the brink of modern genetics.
I'd like to hear any other book recommendations people may have related to this topic.