Title |
Q&A: Trash talk: disposal and remote degradation of neuronal garbage
|
---|---|
Published in |
BMC Biology, January 2018
|
DOI | 10.1186/s12915-018-0487-6 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Meghan Lee Arnold, Ilija Melentijevic, Anna Joelle Smart, Monica Driscoll |
Abstract |
Caenorhabditis elegans neurons have recently been found to throw out cellular debris for remote degradation and/or storage, adding an "extracellular garbage elimination" option to known intracellular protein and organelle degradation pathways. This Q&A describes initial insights into the biology of seemingly selective protein and organelle elimination by challenged neurons, highlighting mysteries of how garbage is distinguished and sorted in the sending neuron, how the garbage-filled "exophers" appear to elicit degradative responses as they transit neighboring tissue, and how non-digestible materials get thrown out of cells again via processes that may be highly relevant to human neurodegenerative disease mechanisms. |
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Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Canada | 2 | 22% |
United States | 1 | 11% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 5 | 56% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 6 | 67% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 11% |
Scientists | 1 | 11% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 11% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Unknown | 32 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 25% |
Student > Master | 5 | 16% |
Researcher | 3 | 9% |
Student > Bachelor | 2 | 6% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 2 | 6% |
Other | 4 | 13% |
Unknown | 8 | 25% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 10 | 31% |
Neuroscience | 4 | 13% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 13% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 2 | 6% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 1 | 3% |
Other | 1 | 3% |
Unknown | 10 | 31% |