Tom -- The original twitter thread where I learned of the paper was https://twitter.com/casa_tuthill/status/951902638571905024 and it expressed a mixture of respect and jealousy for the groups reporting the discovery.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/brain-cells-can-share-information-using-a-gene-that-came-from-viruses/550403/ might clarify, but it's still a bit abbreviated. Clearly, once they had isolated the gene, they would have found the family resemblance to the retroviruses that they eventually used to identify the ancestor gene, but that resemblance would have been more puzzling than helpful. Searching twitter for "arc gene" generates an interesting list of tweets about the discovery. -- rec -- On Mon, Jan 15, 2018 at 4:47 PM, Marcus Daniels <mar...@snoutfarm.com> wrote: > < That said, wouldn't it be grand if authors of papers like this would > embed in the summary a link to a sidebar showing "Here's how we did this." > i.e. how does one render "Purified Arc capsids"? > > > The Cell paper explains in terse "you should know this" language. I agree > it would be nice if publishers would add value by providing link modes in > the browser to reference not just prior work, but also textbook > explanations for technical terms and techniques. That would make topics > like this understandable to a larger (motivated) audience. Not every topic > should expect a reader to unfold references back in time indefinitely. > > Marcus > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> on behalf of Tom Johnson < > t...@jtjohnson.com> > *Sent:* Monday, January 15, 2018 2:12:21 PM > *To:* Friam@redfish. com > *Subject:* Re: [FRIAM] Arc gene transports mRNA's across synapses > > Roger: > I really appreciate your sending this along. That said, wouldn't it be > grand if authors of papers like this would embed in the summary a link to a > sidebar showing "Here's how we did this." i.e. how does one render "Purified > Arc capsids"? > TJ > > On Jan 15, 2018 12:19 PM, "Barry MacKichan" <barry.mackic...@mackichan.com> > wrote: > > Object-oriented programming in the cell, with encapsulated code! > > --Barry > > On 13 Jan 2018, at 17:47, Roger Critchlow wrote: > > In case you thought you understood the general molecular biology of life, > here's another curve ball for you: > > http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(17)31504-0 > > Summary > > The neuronal gene *Arc* is essential for long-lasting information storage > in the mammalian brain, mediates various forms of synaptic plasticity, and > has been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. However, little is > known about Arc’s molecular function and evolutionary origins. Here, we > show that Arc self-assembles into virus-like capsids that encapsulate RNA. > Endogenous Arc protein is released from neurons in extracellular vesicles > that mediate the transfer of *Arc* mRNA into new target cells, where it > can undergo activity-dependent translation. Purified Arc capsids are > endocytosed and are able to transfer *Arc* mRNA into the cytoplasm of > neurons. These results show that Arc exhibits similar molecular properties > to retroviral Gag proteins. Evolutionary analysis indicates that Arc is > derived from a vertebrate lineage of Ty3/*gypsy* retrotransposons, which > are also ancestors to retroviruses. These findings suggest that Gag > retroelements have been repurposed during evolution to mediate > intercellular communication in the nervous system. > -- rec -- > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove
