Watanabe Lab @JHU
studying “ultrafast” events at synapses with innovative electron microscopy techniques. t.co/fKGNMx2cyo
- Happy to share our new paper, just published in @cellpress.bsky.social. We show that our zap&freeze approach can be used in human brain tissues to study synaptic membrane dynamics! Our brain is ultrafast after all! nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
- Here’s a nice article from the @hopkinsmedicine.bsky.social news room, covering the work!
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUJohns Hopkins scientists discover how a protein organizes message-carrying "bubbles" in brain synapses—advancing understanding of memory formation and learning. www.oneneurojhu.org/... @watanabelab.bsky.social
- I am incredibly honored to receive this award! But now that I am behind the computer all day, this really is for the team! Congrats to the Watanabe lab!
- Meet the 2025 ASCB Award Winners—trailblazing scientists honored for research, mentoring, education, and innovation. Celebrate excellence across all career stages in cell biology. Read more: www.ascb.org/society-news...
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUWe're thrilled to announce the largest private gift in our 137-year history: a $25 million unrestricted donation from MBL Whitman Scientist Mark Terasaki. His extraordinary generosity will bolster our renowned research and education programs. 🔬 Learn more: bit.ly/452WL1m
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUWe unrestrained mice to study how they use their whiskers to learn a discrimination task. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUIntersectin and endophilin condensates prime synaptic vesicles for release site replenishment @watanabelab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Super excited to share that our new study is published @natneuro.nature.com today!! Here we show that intersectin and endophilin form condensates between the active zone and the reserve pool and maintain synaptic vesicles near the active zone for rapid replenishment. rdcu.be/evi5y
- @ogunmowo.bsky.social led the work with the help from Renee Pepper, Chin Patel (supported by Brady Maher), Annie Ho, and Sumana Raychaudhuri. Congrats to all!
- We wrote a review article on ultrafast endocytosis and its mechanisms and relevance to diseases. Enjoy! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40062769/
- A new preprint alert from the lab!! Evidence for ultrafast endocytosis in inhibitory synapses!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- A weekend fun with the lab! Welcoming four new members to the lab!!
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUExcited to share our new preprint "Dynamic nanoscale architecture of synaptic vesicle fusion in mouse hippocampal neurons" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We combine optogenetic stimulation of neurons with in situ cryo-ET to characterize membrane dynamics during synaptic vesicle fusion ❄️🔬⏱️
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUNew preprint from the MemTraS team ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Great collaboration with @fronzeslab.bsky.social and Vladan Lucic to determine the first cryo electron tomography images of dopamine "synapses" extracted from adult mouse brain.
- another piece, covering our work! Thanks to Laura Tran at the Scientist!! www.the-scientist.com/challenging-...
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHU📆Deadline extension alert!📆 The last day to submit applications for the MBL's 2025 Neurobiology course has been moved to February 3. Don't miss your opportunity to apply! Read more: bit.ly/3C2psks #ScienceStartsHere
- another preprint to end 2024! Wondered how synaptic vesicles are recycled in human brains? and whether you can use human brain tissues to address it? You bet! We used live human brain slices and demonstrated that ultrafast endocytosis does it!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- and the mechanism? seems to be conserved! A brain-enriched splice variant of Dynamin 1 is pre-recruited to the endocytic zone, just like we showed in mouse neurons. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35809574/
- This was led by Chelsy_Eddings! assisted by Xiomara McDonald, and wonderful collaboration with David Nauen, Stan William (neurosurgeon), Minghua Fan&Paul Worley, Yuuta Imoto, Kie Itoh, @HopkinsMedicine and Kristina Lippmann&Jens Eilers! Thanks all for their efforts!!
- and axons in human brain!? yep, it's pearled!!
- Here's another article, covering our work!! www.sciencenews.org/article/axon...
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUStudy finds axons are not the cylindrical tubes pictured in books but more like pearls on a string. Article Link: www.oneneurojhu.org/2024/12/10/s... “These findings challenge a century of understanding about axon structure,” says lead researcher Shigeki Watanabe, Ph.D. @watanabelab.bsky.social
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUThis new study, led by Shigeki Watanabe and partially conducted in the MBL’s Neurobiology course, challenges a fundamental tenet in neuroscience about the shape of axons and proposes a new model for understanding how information is transmitted in the brain. #science 🧪 🧠
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUDid we conceive the structure of neurons incorrectly all these years? nature.com/articles/s41... not smooth, cylindrical strands but a string of pearls? it's controversial science.org/content/arti... @science.org
- Excited to share our latest findings, now published @NatureNeuro www.nature.com/articles/s41... We found unmyelinated axons exhibit pearls-on-a-string morphology's due to their membrane mechanical properties. Threads will follow!
- If interested in the course (June 8 – July 21, 2025), please let us know! The application is due January 27, 2025. go.mbl.edu/neuroNeurobi...:
- Reposted by Watanabe Lab @JHUImportant article that challenges the classic view of axons as simple tubes. To what extent they fluctuate in diameter is up for debate - see some thoughts in this commentary piece in @science.org. Exciting time for axon scientists!
- Excited to share our latest findings, now published @NatureNeuro www.nature.com/articles/s41... We found unmyelinated axons exhibit pearls-on-a-string morphology's due to their membrane mechanical properties. Threads will follow!
