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The text highlights a meeting organized by the Study Group "Molecular Neurobiology" of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, which focused on exploring new perspectives on understanding and modulating brain function. The meeting included neuroscientists from various areas of expertise and emphasized non-invasive methods. The contributions presented in the text cover topics such as in vitro brain models, optogenetics, remote control of regeneration in neuronal disease, expansion microscopy, and scanning ion conductance microscopy. The text also discusses the use of genetic screening in brain organoid culture models, the role of neuromuscular cocultures in studying neuromuscular junctions, and the application of optogenetics in manipulating microcircuit activity. Additionally, it explores the dynamics of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, the role of microtubules in axon growth, and the presence of autoantibodies in traumatic spinal cord injury. [Extracted from the article]

The main objective of structural biology is to model proteins and other biological macromolecules and link the structural information to function and dynamics. The biological functions of protein molecules and nucleic acids are inherently dependent on their conformational dynamics. Imaging of individual molecules and their dynamic characteristics is an ample source of knowledge that brings new insights about mechanisms of action. The atomic-resolution structural information on most of the biomolecules has been solved by biophysical techniques; either by X-ray diffraction in single crystals or by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in solution. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is emerging as a new tool for analysis of a larger macromolecule that couldn't be solved by X-ray crystallography or NMR. Now a day's low-resolution Cryo-EM is used in combination with either X-ray crystallography or NMR. The present review intends to provide updated information on applications like X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM and NMR which can be used independently and/or together in solving structures of biological macromolecules for our full comprehension of their biological mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2012, we briefly summarized the mechanisms, pathophysiological roles and methods for analyzing mitophagy. As then, the mitophagy field has continued to grow rapidly, and many new molecular mechanisms regulating mitophagy and molecular tools for monitoring mitophagy have been discovered and developed. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to update information regarding these advances in mitophagy while focusing on basic molecular mechanisms of mitophagy in different organisms and its pathophysiological roles. We also discuss the advantage and limitations of current methods to monitor and quantify mitophagy in cultured cells and in vivo mouse tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accordingly, membrane transporter dysfunctions often result in severe disease conditions and many membrane transporters are established drug targets for pharmacological disease control. Among the class of membrane proteins, membrane transporters are essential regulatory molecules that allow the passage of mostly membrane-impermeable molecules across biomembranes. As a common feature, most of them share the presence of alpha-helical transmembrane domains traversing the membrane, with the notable exception of beta-barrel proteins in the outer membranes of gram-negative bacteria and mitochondria. [Extracted from the article]