Publications related to Nano Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Dopamine Distribution Across Nanometer Vesicles

S-acylation and lipid exchange at the ER-Golgi membrane contact sites regulate pathogen entry in human cells

Cells have evolved endocytic pathways to internalize different molecules, to regulate intra-cellular communication and their interaction with external environment. Pathogens have co-evolved with cells to exploit these processes for infections. In particula ...

EPFL2024

A bistable inhibitory optoGPCR for multiplexed optogenetic control of neural circuits

Mauro Pulin

Information is transmitted between brain regions through the release of neurotransmitters from long-range projecting axons. Understanding how the activity of such long-range connections contributes to behavior requires efficient methods for reversibly mani ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Polydopamine-coated photoautotrophic bacteria for improving extracellular electron transfer in living photovoltaics

Fabian Fischer, Ardemis Anoush Boghossian, Charlotte Elisabeth Marie Roullier, Melania Reggente, Mohammed Mouhib, Patricia Brandl, Hanxuan Wang

Living photovoltaics are microbial electrochemical devices that use whole cell–electrode interactions to convert solar energy to electricity. The bottleneck in these technologies is the limited electron transfer between the microbe and the electrode surfac ...

2024

Unveiling the complexity of learning and decision-making

Wei-Hsiang Lin

Reinforcement learning (RL) is crucial for learning to adapt to new environments. In RL, the prediction error is an important component that compares the expected and actual rewards. Dopamine plays a critical role in encoding these prediction errors. In my ...

EPFL2024

Microsecond Time-Resolved Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Oliver Florian Harder

Recently, single-particle cryo-electron microscopy emerged as a technique capable of determining protein structures at near-atomic resolution and resolving protein dynamics with a temporal resolution ranging from second to milliseconds. This thesis describ ...

EPFL2024

Structure-function analysis of the cyclic β-1,2-glucan synthase from Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Henning Paul-Julius Stahlberg, Dongchun Ni

The synthesis of complex sugars is a key aspect of microbial biology. Cyclic beta-1,2-glucan (C beta G) is a circular polysaccharide critical for host interactions of many bacteria, including major pathogens of humans (Brucella) and plants (Agrobacterium). ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Drosophila SPG12 ortholog, reticulon-like 1, governs presynaptic ER organization and Ca2+ dynamics

Rebecca Carolyn Smith

Neuronal endoplasmic reticulum (ER) appears continuous throughout the cell. Its shape and continuity are influenced by ER-shaping proteins, mutations in which can cause distal axon degeneration in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP). We therefore asked how ...

Rockefeller University Press2023

GABAergic-like dopamine synapses in the brain

Maria Reva

Dopamine synapses play a crucial role in volitional movement and reward-related behaviors, while dysfunction of dopamine synapses causes various psychiatric and neurological disorders. Despite this significance, the true biological nature of dopamine synap ...

2023

Assemblies, synapse clustering and network topology interact with plasticity to explain structure-function relationships of the cortical connectome

James Gonzalo King, Eilif Benjamin Muller, Michael Reimann, Marwan Muhammad Ahmed Abdellah, Giuseppe Chindemi, Pramod Shivaji Kumbhar, András Ecker, Daniela Egas Santander, Ioannis Magkanaris, Sirio Bolaños Puchet, Jorge Blanco Alonso, James Bryden Isbister

Synaptic plasticity underlies the brain’s ability to learn and adapt. While experiments in brain slices have revealed mechanisms and protocols for the induction of plasticity between pairs of neurons, how these synaptic changes are coordinated in biologica ...

2024

Bringing casting to microfabrication: processing and deformation of microcastings

Luciano Borasi

This work extends the range of pathways for the production of metallic microcomponents by downscaling metal casting. This is accomplished by using either of two different molding techniques, namely femtosecond laser micromachining or lithographic silicon m ...

EPFL2023

Striatal Dopamine Signals and Reward Learning

Carl Petersen, Sylvain Crochet, Mauro Pulin, Yanqi Liu, Christos Sourmpis, Parviz Ghaderi, Pol Bech Vilaseca, Meriam Malekzadeh, Anthony Pierre Robert Renard, Robin François Virginien Dard

We are constantly bombarded by sensory information and constantly making decisions on how to act. In order to optimally adapt behavior, we must judge which sequences of sensory inputs and actions lead to successful outcomes in specific circumstances. Neuro ...

Oxford Univ Press2023

Principles of Network Plasticity in Neocortical Microcircuits

András Ecker

Synaptic plasticity underlies our ability to learn and adapt to the constantly changing environment. The phenomenon of synapses changing their efficacy in an activity-dependent manner is often studied in small groups of neurons in vitro or indirectly throu ...

EPFL2023

In Situ and Time-Resolved Transmission Electron Microscopy of Nanoscale Processes

Chengcheng Yan

Observing the fast dynamics of nanoscale systems is crucial in order to understand and ultimately control their behavior. Characterizing these dynamic processes requires techniques with atomic spatial resolution and a temporal resolution that matches the t ...

EPFL2023

3D reconstruction of curvilinear one-dimensional objects viewed in transmission electron microscopy

Gulnaz Ganeeva

To obtain a more complete understanding of material microstructure at the nanoscale and to gain profound insights into their properties, there is a growing need for more efficient and precise methods that can streamline the process of 3D imaging using a tr ...

EPFL2023

Time-Resolved Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy and Single-Molecule Spectroscopy

Samuel Mendes Leitão

The evolution of the 3D morphology is at the center of many relevant biological processes ranging from cellular differentiation to cancer invasion and metastasis. Microscopy techniques, such as electron microscopy (EM), super-resolution (SR) optical micros ...

EPFL2023

Second harmonic scattering of water in a biological context

Tereza Schönfeldová

Water is one of the most abundant molecules in the universe. It forms a hydrogen bond network with unique structure and dynamics. Hydrogen bonding is highly relevant to many biological processes including membrane formation, protein folding, adsorption, an ...

EPFL2022

A conditional GABAergic synaptic vesicle marker for Drosophila

Brian Donal McCabe

Background: Throughout the animal kingdom, GABA is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter of the nervous system. It is essential for maintaining the homeostatic balance between excitation and inhibition required for the brain to operate normally. Identi ...

2022

A conditional glutamatergic synaptic vesicle marker for Drosophila

Evelyne Ruchti, Brian Donal McCabe

Glutamate is a principal neurotransmitter used extensively by the nervous systems of all vertebrate and invertebrate animals. It is primarily an excitatory neurotransmitter that has been implicated in nervous system development, as well as a myriad of brai ...

OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC2022

Clathrin-associated AP-1 control stermination of STING signalling

Sophie Marie Elisabeth Rivara, Andrea Ablasser, Jonathan Jean-Pierre Ricci, Ying Liu, Pengbiao Xu, Chong Liu

Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) functions downstream of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase in DNA sensing or as a direct receptor for bacterial cyclic dinucleotides and small molecules to activate immunity during infection, cancer and immunotherapy(1-10). Prec ...

NATURE PORTFOLIO2022

The matricellular protein Drosophila Cellular Communication Network Factor is required for synaptic transmission and female fertility

Evelyne Ruchti, Brian Donal McCabe

Within the extracellular matrix, matricellular proteins are dynamically expressed nonstructural proteins that interact with cell surface receptors, growth factors, and proteases, as well as with structural matrix proteins. The cellular communication networ ...

Genetics Society America2022