how energy is distributed within a single cell

Every system in the body relies on a finite energy supply to function. In humans, no organ consumes as much energy as the brain, which consumes approximately 20% of the body’s metabolic energy.

But how is energy distributed throughout the nervous system to ensure its function? Scientists at Yale University have solved some of the mystery in a new study. Using a new biosensor, they were able to map the energy metabolism of a single cell in the living organism C. elegans.

This technology, developed by scientists at Yale University, allows researchers to map the “landscape” of energy distribution throughout cells and even within individual neurons.

their findings Published in a magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have long been interested in questions related to the body’s energy metabolism, from how energy is produced biochemically to how it is distributed throughout the organism, including the brain. I’m here.

Previous research has shown, using neuroimaging techniques such as functional MRI, that the energy distribution in the brain changes according to various brain activity states that support thinking and cognition. However, these techniques lack the cellular resolution necessary to understand how energy metabolism is distributed within single cells of the nervous system.

“We know that energy production is not evenly distributed throughout the brain, but where exactly does it occur and how does that distribution affect the functioning of the nervous system? ” said Aaron Wolf, a postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study. “Those were the questions that drove this work.”

To answer these questions, a Yale team led by Wolf and Daniel Colon-Ramos, the Doris McConnell Duberg Professor of Neuroscience and Cell Biology and co-corresponding author, used a biosensor called HYlight. investigated the metabolic activity within individual neurons of C. elegans. various conditions.

The biosensor was originally developed by a research group led by Richard Goodman, a former faculty member at the Vollum Institute and now an associate research scientist in the Colón-Ramos lab.

The researchers found that energy is distributed differently in specific cells and maps to the identity of individual neurons. They say this uneven distribution forms an “energetic landscape” that shapes how information flows through neurons and can influence behavior.

“Energy is the force that animates life. In the context of the nervous system, energy animates thought and action,” Colon-Ramos said. “Energy is produced by specific metabolic reactions, which we can now track in living animals.

“By visualizing this energy metabolism, we can now understand how its distribution limits nervous system function in health, disease, and aging.”

Wolfe added, “Understanding energy production at the cellular level can help us pinpoint how defects arise that can impair neural function.”

For example, researchers found that energy is not only distributed throughout different cells, but also within cell compartments, he said.

“Our findings show that in neurons, this distribution occurs near synapses, the structures neurons use to communicate with each other,” Wolf said. “Maps exist because of synaptic connections, and we can now create new maps of the energy distribution as animals perform their actions.”