Structural dynamics of the nucleus: Basis for Morphology Modulation of Nuclear Calcium Signaling and Gene Transcription

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Structural dynamics of the nucleus: Basis for Morphology Modulation of Nuclear Calcium Signaling and Gene Transcription Markus Breit1, Hilmar Bading2 and Gillian Queisser1* 1 Bernstein Center Heidelberg/Mannheim and Goethe Center for Scientific Computing, Germany 2 University of Heidelberg, Department of Neurobiology, Germany Neuronal morphology plays an essential role in signal processing in the brain. Individual neurons can undergo use-dependent changes in their shape and connectivity, which affects how intracellular processes are regulated and how signals are transferred from one cell to another in a neuronal network. Calcium is one of the most important intracellular second messengers regulating cellular morphologies and functions. In neurons, intracellular calcium levels are controlled by ion channels in the plasma membrane such as NMDA receptors (NMDARs), voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) and certain α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) as well as by calcium exchange pathways between the cytosol and internal calcium stores including the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Synaptic activity and the subsequent opening of ligand and/or voltage-gated calcium channels can initiate cytosolic calcium transients which propagate towards the cell soma and enter the nucleus via its nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) embedded in the nuclear envelope. With the help of detailed three-dimensional calcium models and in vivo experiments we recently described the discovery that in hippocampal neurons the morphology of the nucleus affects the calcium dynamics within the nucleus. Here we porpose that nuclear infoldings determine whether a nucleus functions as an integrator or detector of oscillating calcium signals. We outline possible ties between nuclear mophology and transcriptional activity and discuss the importance of extending the approach to whole cell calcium signal modeling in order to understand synapse-to-nucleus communication in healthy and dysfunctional neurons. References Wittmann, M., Queisser, G., Eder, A., Wiegert, J.S., Bengtson, C.P., Hellwig, A., Wittum, G., and Bading, H. (2009) Synaptic Activity Induces Dramatic Changes in the Geometry of the Cell Nucleus: Interplay Between Nuclear Structure, Histone H3 Phosphorylation, and Nuclear Calcium Signaling. The Journal of Neuroscience 29(47):14687-14700 Queisser, G., Wiegert S., and Bading, H. (2011) Structural dynamics of the nucleus: Basis for Morphology Modulation of Nuclear Calcium Signaling and Gene Transcription. Nucleus. DOI: 10.4161/nucl.2.2.15116 Queisser, G., Wittmann, M., Bading, H., and Wittum, G. (2008) Filtering, reconstruction, and measurement of the geometry of nuclei from hippocampal neurons based on confocal microscopy data. Journal of Biomedical Optics 13, 014009. Queisser, G., Wittum, G. (2011) A method to investigate the diffusion properties of nuclear calcium. Biol. Cybern. (to appear) Keywords: Calcium Signaling, detailed 3d-modeling, dysfunctional neurons, Learning and plasticity, morphology modulation, nucleus, synapse-to-nucleus communication Conference: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011, Freiburg, Germany, 4 Oct - 6 Oct, 2011. Presentation Type: Demonstration Topic: learning and plasticity (please use "learning and plasticity" as keyword) Citation: Breit M, Bading H and Queisser G (2011). Structural dynamics of the nucleus: Basis for Morphology Modulation of Nuclear Calcium Signaling and Gene Transcription. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2011.53.00172 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 22 Aug 2011; Published Online: 04 Oct 2011. * Correspondence: Prof. Gillian Queisser, Bernstein Center Heidelberg/Mannheim and Goethe Center for Scientific Computing, Frankfurt am Main, 60325, Germany, gillian.queisser@gcsc.uni-frankfurt.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Markus Breit Hilmar Bading Gillian Queisser Google Markus Breit Hilmar Bading Gillian Queisser Google Scholar Markus Breit Hilmar Bading Gillian Queisser PubMed Markus Breit Hilmar Bading Gillian Queisser Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.