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Cell biology of the neuron

Displaced connection

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 6, page 753 (2005)Cite this article

The ORC is a hexameric protein that acts as a cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-regulated, ATPase-dependent molecular switch for initiating DNA replication during the cell cycle, ensuring that each wave of CDK activation is translated into one, and only one, round of genome replication. Adult neurons are mostly postmitotic and have no need for DNA replication, so it was a surprise when Huang et al. found that the Orc genes appeared frequently in the adult mouse brain database.

To explore their finding, the researchers studied Orc expression and found that the Orc2–6 mRNAs were abundant in adult brain tissues such as the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum. Interestingly, Orc3 is expressed in the cytoplasm of cultured hippocampal neurons, rather than in the nucleus as one would expect, and the expression co-localizes with the dendritic marker microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2).

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References

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Huang, Z. et al. The origin recognition core complex regulates dendrite and spine development in postmitotic neurons. J. Cell Biol. 170, 527–535 (2005)

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FURTHER READING

  1. Bell, S. P. The origin recognition complex: from simple origins to complex functions. Genes Dev. 16, 659–672 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors
  1. Jane Qiu
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Qiu, J. Displaced connection. Nat Rev Neurosci 6, 753 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1779

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1779

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