Specific Extracellular Vesicles, Generated and Operating at Synapses, Contribute to Neuronal Effects and Signaling.

In all cell types, small EVs, very abundant extracellular vesicles, are generated and accumulated within MVB endocytic cisternae. Upon MVB fusion and exocytosis with the plasma membrane, the EVs are released to the extracellular space. In the central nervous system, the release of neuronal EVs was believed to occur only from the surface of the body and dendrites.

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Brain Areas Involved, Neurobiological Mechanisms, Diagnoses and Therapies.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), affecting over 2% of the pre-school children population, includes an important fraction of the conditions accounting for the heterogeneity of autism. The disease was discovered 75 years ago, and the present review, based on critical evaluations of the recognized ASD studies from the beginning of 1990, has been further developed by the comparative analyses of the research and clinical reports, which have grown progressively in recent years up to late 2023. The tools necessary for the identification of the ASD disease and its related clinical pathologies are genetic and epigenetic mutations affected by the specific interaction with transcription factors and chromatin remodeling processes occurring within specific complexes of brain neurons.

Role of Senescent Astrocytes in Health and Disease.

For many decades after their discovery, astrocytes, the abundant glial cells of the brain, were believed to work as a glue, supporting the structure and metabolic functions of neurons. A revolution that started over 30 years ago revealed many additional functions of these cells, including neurogenesis, gliosecretion, glutamate homeostasis, assembly and function of synapses, neuronal metabolism with energy production, and others. These properties have been confirmed, limited however, to proliferating astrocytes.

Four distinct cytoplasmic structures generate and release specific vesicles, thus opening the way to intercellular communication.

In all cells, generation and release of specific vesicles are the initial steps of back-and-forth intercellular communication. These processes are critical in normal physiology and pathophysiology. Vesicles have particular functions appropriate to their targets.

News about Structure and Function of Synapses: Health and Diseases.

During the last century, synapses have been intensely investigated as the most interesting sites of neuroscience development [...