Home | Help | Feedback | Subscriptions | Archive | Search | Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF, 1670K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leslie, M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Leslie, M. Related Collections Related Article Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Taking a Toll on neurons

Toll-like receptor 8 (green) restrains cortical neurons in the mouse embryo.

Battling pathogens and shaping neuronal growth seem to have as much in common as accounting and skydiving. But both tasks involve one of the Toll-like proteins, as Ma et al. report on page 209. The study is the first to discover a function for a member of the Toll-like family within neurons.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) enable mammalian immune cells to identify interlopers. TLR8, for instance, recognizes RNA on the loose, a sign of viral infection or cell destruction. The Drosophila equivalents of the proteins, the Toll receptors, also supervise synapse formation and axon growth, researchers have discovered. Although previous studies had revealed that mammalian neurons manufacture TLRs, no one had shown that the molecules performed a job in these cells.

Ma et al. found that brain levels of TLR8 shot up in the early mouse embryo and fell after birth, suggesting that the molecule participates in nervous system development. To clarify its role, the researchers dosed embryonic brain cells with a compound that stimulates TLR8. The treatment impeded the growth of neurites, the branches that sprout from developing neurons, and spurred some of the cells to kill themselves. An antibody that latches onto TLR8 prevented both effects.

TLR8 usually raises the alarm by activating the signaling pathway headed by NF-B. But Ma et al. showed that NF-B remained off in neurons, indicating that the receptor acts in these cells through an unidentified pathway. The researchers speculate that TLR8 might serve as a danger detector in neurons. If it senses infection or tissue damage, it may deter neurons from entering the trouble spot by pruning their neurites or triggering their suicide.

Mitch Leslie

mitchleslie{at}comcast.net

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related Article

Toll-like receptor 8 functions as a negative regulator of neurite outgrowth and inducer of neuronal apoptosis

Yinghua Ma, Jianxue Li, Isaac Chiu, Yawen Wang, Jacob A. Sloane, Jining Lü, Bela Kosaras, Richard L. Sidman, Joseph J. Volpe, and Timothy Vartanian
J. Cell Biol. 2006 175: 209-215. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Full Text (PDF, 1670K) PPT slides of all figures Alert me when this article is cited Services Email this article Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new content in the JCB Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Leslie, M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Leslie, M. Related Collections Related Article Social Bookmarking                            What's this?