Collier C Patrick, Bolmatov Dima, Lydic Ralph, Katsaras John
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States.
Langmuir. 2025 Feb 11;41(5):2973-2979. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c03375. Epub 2025 Jan 18.
Biological memory is the ability to develop, retain, and retrieve information over time. Currently, it is widely accepted that memories are stored in synapses (i.e., connections between brain cells throughout the brain) through a process known as synaptic plasticity, which leads to either long-term potentiation (LTP) or long-term depression (LTD). However, the strengthening (LTP) and weakening (LTD) of synapses involve post-translational modifications to neural networks requiring de novo gene expression, a lengthy and energetically expensive process. Recently, we observed that lipid bilayers in the absence of peptides/proteins are capable of LTP, not unlike what has been observed in mammals and birds. As such, this finding has prompted us to postulate that the lipid bilayer provides a good model for understanding the molecular basis of biological memory. In this article, we discuss the status, challenges, and opportunities of neuronal plasma membranes as structures for biological memory and learning, therapeutic targets for various brain disorders, and platforms for neural network developments.
生物记忆是一种随着时间推移发展、保留和检索信息的能力。目前，人们普遍认为记忆通过一种称为突触可塑性的过程存储在突触中（即遍布大脑的脑细胞之间的连接），突触可塑性会导致长时程增强（LTP）或长时程抑制（LTD）。然而，突触的增强（LTP）和减弱（LTD）涉及对神经网络的翻译后修饰，这需要从头进行基因表达，是一个漫长且耗能巨大的过程。最近，我们观察到在没有肽/蛋白质的情况下，脂质双层能够产生LTP，这与在哺乳动物和鸟类中观察到的情况并无不同。因此，这一发现促使我们推测脂质双层为理解生物记忆的分子基础提供了一个良好的模型。在本文中，我们讨论了神经元质膜作为生物记忆和学习的结构、各种脑部疾病的治疗靶点以及神经网络发展平台的现状、挑战和机遇。
