title: Intracellular signaling in neurons: unraveling specificity, compensatory mechanisms and essential gene function.
abstract: Understanding how unique signaling outputs are generated in neurons using a limited set of intracellular signaling mechanisms has been a challenge. A combination of genetics and cell imaging, with tools developed to measure signaling outputs, has shown that the restricted presence of a signaling attenuator visibly alters the axonal range of the output and can be correlated with different behavioral outputs. Another question of interest is regarding the extent of genetic plasticity possible in the context of a single behavioral change. Recent molecular and genetic studies support the presence of parallel pathways that can compensate for the primary defect both at the level of physiology and behavior.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Biological Sciences, TIFR, Bangalore 560065, India. gaiti@ncbs.res.in
authors.forename: Gaiti
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hasan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001519:Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D020043:Genes, Essential / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015544:Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate; D000242:Cyclic AMP