Brain Walker

The popular belief that adults lose thousands of brain cells daily is true, but the idea they’re never replaced is false. We constantly need fresh cells for repair and to accommodate recent memories. New brain cells migrate to where they’re needed from the region rich in stem cells [immature cells that become different types of adult cells] where they’re produced. Migration is poorly understood but is known to be faulty in patients with Huntington’s disease. To learn more, researchers watched brain cells move through a synthetic matrix. One protein – drebrin, highlighted in red – is found particularly concentrated in the ‘feet’ of the cells and behind another kind of protein that moves the cell (green in the bottom panel). Mutant versions of drebrin cause cell migration to go off course, suggesting it controls the direction of movement. Understanding this is key to developing future treatments for Huntington’s disease.

Written by Julie Webb

Julie Webb

Writer

Julie began her career as a researcher in genetics. In 2000 she won a Wellcome Trust award for her work on a collaborative science drama, staged at the Edinburgh Festival. She now works as a freelance science writer and communicator.

• Image from work by Giovanna Lalli and colleagues
• King's College London
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Research published in PLOS One, May 2015