Astrocytes that maintain brain memory-IT Chosun> Technology> Science·Technology

Input 2021.01.05 17:07

Researchers in Korea are attracting attention by discovering how adults maintain brain memory in a new way that has not been known to academia. The protagonist is Jung Seok Won, who receives support from the Samsung Future Technology Promotion Project, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.(KAIST) Professor of Life Science(Photo) This is the research team and Hyungju Park, Ph.

On the 5th, Samsung Electronics introduced the achievements of Professor Jeong’s research team that supported the Samsung Future Technology Promotion Project. The Samsung Future Technology Promotion Project is a research support project launched from 2013 by Samsung Electronics with 1.5 trillion won contributions with the aim of fostering and supporting science and technology research fields. To date, a total of 634 projects have been funded with 8125 billion won in research funding.

In this study, Professor Jeong’s research team and Dr. Park’s team identified how adults maintain memory in the brain. In the process of forming memories in the brain, existing synapses disappear and new synapses are formed, which reveals which cells play a role in this process. Synapses are responsible for learning and remembering information in the brain by connecting neurons, which are neurons, and neurons.

The research team confirmed that among the glial cells surrounding neurons, astrocytes actively remove synapses during memory formation. In academia, microglia is known as the main cell that removes synapses, but the research team has uncovered a new fact.

Glial cells are cells that help neurons in the brain to maintain brain improvement, and are composed of ▲ astrocytes ▲ microglia cells ▲ oligodendrocytes. Astrocytes contact synapses and capillaries to transport and regulate metabolites from blood vessels to synapses. Microglia are responsible for immunity in the brain, removing dead cells or involved in inflammatory reactions.

The researchers also found that abnormal synapses in the brain surged when microglia cells were left intact and the function of astrocytes was suppressed to prevent synapses from being removed. As a result of an experiment on mice, the research team verified that unnecessary synapses were not removed and problems occurred in the formation of new synapses in mice that suppressed the synaptic removal action of astrocytes.

Professor Jeong said, “Based on this research, if we can control the phenomenon that astrocytes remove synapses, we will be able to provide a new lead in the treatment of neurological diseases such as autism, schizophrenia, and dementia.”

The results of this study were published in Nature, the top international academic journal in December 2020.

Reporter Kim Pyeong-hwa [email protected]

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