Dr. Ege Kavalali

DALLAS – January 2017 – A molecule that helps neurons communicate also controls how quickly brain cells reform neurotransmitter-storing packets needed to continue messaging with other cells, according to a new study from researchers at the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

The study builds upon discoveries at UT Southwestern that led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and established mechanisms by which cells share information. While the award-winning research demonstrated that synaptotagmins are proteins that trigger release of neurotransmitters, the new study shows these proteins also regulate the recycling of packets – known as synaptic vesicles – that store neurotransmitters.

The current findings provide novel insight into vesicle recycling, a critical process in a nerve cell’s ability to continue messaging with other cells. Impairment of this process can lead to degeneration of synaptic connections between nerve cells, resulting in various forms of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases.

The finding published in Neuron may eventually help scientists design treatments for several neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders in which the ability of nerve cells to communicate is hampered, said Dr. Ege Kavalali, Professor of Neuroscience and Physiology at UT Southwestern.

“Functional alterations in neuronal communication are suggested to underlie neurological and psychiatric disorders,” said Dr. Kavalali, a member of the O’Donnell Brain Institute. “Thus better understanding how cells communicate may provide necessary information for future advances in treatment.” 

Dr. Kavalali is Effie Marie Cain Scholar in Medical Research, and holds the Rosewood Corporation Chair in Biomedical Science. Visit the Kavalali Lab.