At HU, Eran Meshorer, a Ph.D. candidate, working in collaboration with Dr. Nissim Ben-Arie and Roi Gazit, another a Ph.D. candidate, found that following stress, unlike the usual mRNA product of ACHE, this new mRNA moves into the long extensions of neurons. The stress-induced mRNA produces an unusual variant of the acetylcholinesterase protein, a protein that, unlike the usual protein, cannot be integrated into synapses to assists transmission of nerve impulses. This raised the question of whether synapses located on these neurons would be able to normally transmit signals from one neuron to another.
As these impulses can be detected as electrical activity in the brain, at BGU Dr. Alon Friedman and Lev Pavlovski, a Ph.D. candidate there, measured this electrical activity in mice weeks after the mice were exposed to stress. They found much greater activity in the brains of stressed mice than in non-stressed mice. Drs. David Glick, Christina Erb (a Minerva Foundation fellow) and Daniela Kaufer also contributed to the study.
“Our study shows that stress initiates a series of events that includes changes in mRNA splicing and a consequent change of a key protein in neurons that results in an oversensitive electrical response,” says Prof. Hermona Soreq, who headed the research team.
Patients who receive drugs that affect their nervous systems may eventually benefit from the recognition that stress renders them more sensitive to these drugs. Furthermore, the findings direct attention to altered mRNAs as targets for a new class of drugs, which is the focus of efforts at Ester Neuroscience, Ltd., which also supported the study. The study also was supported by the U.S. Army, the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation and the European Community.
Please note that publication of the results of the research is embargoed until 2 p.m. EST (9 p.m. in Israel) on Thursday, January 17, 2002. Pictures available upon request.
For further information, contact: Heidi Gleit, HU foreign press liaison: tel. 02-588-2904; cell, 064-454-593; email heidig@savion.cc.huji.ac.il Orit Sulitzeanu, HU spokeswoman: tel. 02-588-2811
Journal
Science