Genetics of the nervous system articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  02 May 2017 | Open Access

  Developmental activities of the complement pathway in migrating neurons

  Emerging evidence suggests that immune molecules play an important role in regulating brain development. Goreliket al. show that molecules in the lectin arm of the complement pathway are expressed in the developing mouse cortex, and regulate radial migration of excitatory neurons.

  • Anna Gorelik
  • , Tamar Sapir
  •  & Orly Reiner

• Article
  15 December 2016 | Open Access

  Heritability of the shape of subcortical brain structures in the general population

  The volume of subcortical brain structures is known to be heritable. Here, Roshchupkin and colleagues studied seven different subcortical brain structures in the general population and show that the genetic contributions go beyond these volumetric measurements, and also extend to their shapes.

  • Gennady V. Roshchupkin
  • , Boris A. Gutman
  •  & Hieab H. H. Adams

• Article
  23 November 2016 | Open Access

  Deep phenotyping unveils hidden traits and genetic relations in subtle mutants

  Experimenter scoring of cellular imaging data can be biased. This study describes an automated and unbiased multidimensional phenotyping method that relies on machine learning and complex feature computation of imaging data, and identifies weak alleles affecting synapse morphology in live C. elegans.

  • Adriana San-Miguel
  • , Peri T. Kurshan
  •  & Hang Lu

• Article
  15 November 2016 | Open Access

  Multidimensional heritability analysis of neuroanatomical shape

  Neuroanatomical shape measurements are multidimensional geometric descriptions of brain structure. This study develops multivariate heritability analysis methods and examines structural brain MRI scans and genetic data to estimate the heritability of neuroanatomical shape.

  • Tian Ge
  • , Martin Reuter
  •  & Mert R. Sabuncu

• Article
  15 November 2016 | Open Access

  Hyperconnectivity of prefrontal cortex to amygdala projections in a mouse model of macrocephaly/autism syndrome

  Dysregulation of mTOR signaling has been implicated in autism spectrum disorders. Here authors show that hyperconnectivity and hyperactivity of the mPFC–BLA circuitry inPten^+/−mice underlies their social impairments, and that reducing mTORC1 signaling during early postnatal development rescues these deficits.

  • Wen-Chin Huang
  • , Youjun Chen
  •  & Damon T. Page

• Article
  04 October 2016 | Open Access

  Divergent effects of central melanocortin signalling on fat and sucrose preference in humans

  Hypothalamic melanocortin-4-receptors (MC4R) regulate food preference in rodents, but their role in humans is unclear. Here, the authors perform food preference and liking tests in humans with MC4R mutations and find that they prefer fatty food more, but sweet food less, than people without MC4R mutations.

  • Agatha A. van der Klaauw
  • , Julia M. Keogh
  •  & I. Sadaf Farooqi

• Article
  01 June 2016 | Open Access

  Brain-specific Crmp2 deletion leads to neuronal development deficits and behavioural impairments in mice

  The in vivo function of CRMP2 is unclear. Zhang et al. generate and characterize brain-specific Crmp2knockout mice. These mice show impairments in hippocampal neurogenesis, neuronal maturation and synaptic transmission, and exhibit schizophrenia-related behavioral deficits.

  • Hongsheng Zhang
  • , Eunchai Kang
  •  & Zhiheng Xu

• Article
  06 July 2015 | Open Access

  A post-transcriptional mechanism pacing expression of neural genes with precursor cell differentiation status

  Nervous system development relies on coherent up-regulation of extensive genes in a precise spatiotemporal manner. Here, the authors show that miR-9/TTP circuitry ensures coordinated up-regulation of neuronal mRNAs in neurons and limits unscheduled accumulation of these transcripts in non-neuronal cells.

  • Weijun Dai
  • , Wencheng Li
  •  & Eugene V. Makeyev

• Article | 22 January 2013

  A genetically female brain is required for a regular reproductive cycle in chicken brain chimeras

  Sexual dimorphism describes physical differences between males and females of the same species and is partly shaped by the action of hormones. Maekawa and colleagues construct mixed-sex chicken brain chimeras and find that the female reproductive cycle is largely destroyed in female chimeras with male brains.

  • Fumihiko Maekawa
  • , Miyano Sakurai
  •  & Hiroko Ohki-Hamazaki

• Article | 14 February 2012

  Homeostatic neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus does not involve amplification of Ascl1^high intermediate progenitors

  Neural stem cells generate neurons in the adult hippocampus, but the dynamics of neuron production remain unclear. This study shows that stem cells produce type-2a progenitors, which do not expand as previously thought, but rather generate amplifying immature neuroblasts.

  • Sebastian Lugert
  • , Miriam Vogt
  •  & Verdon Taylor