Researchers discover how some brain cells transfer material to neurons in mice

A UC Davis study is the first to report on a material transfer mechanism from cells, known as oligodendrocytes, to neurons in the brain of a mouse model. This discovery opens new possibilities for understanding brain maturation and finding treatments for many neurological conditions.

Researchers link neurodegenerative disease protein to defective cholesterol metabolism

Researchers in Singapore have discovered that brain cells cannot maintain the cholesterol-rich myelin sheath that protects and insulates neurons in the absence of a protein called TDP-43. The study, which will be published August 4 in the Journal of Cell Biology (JCB), suggests that restoring cholesterol levels could be a new therapeutic approach for diseases associated with TDP-43, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia.