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In this study published in Cell, postdocs Drs. Christine Beck and Zeynep Coban-Akdemir and others working in the lab of Dr. James Lupski used an array of high-resolution technologies and powerful statistical analyses to confirm and expand their previous observations related to 17p11.2 syndromes. This study has opened a window into the complexity of the genetic changes in this small region of chromosome 17 that lead to two rare conditions and suggests that other conditions that involve duplications or deletions of chromosome segments may arise by similar mechanisms.

Understanding how Zika virus causes microcephaly would hint at possibilities for preventing this irreparable condition in newborns. Heading in that direction, a collaboration between Baylor College of Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco revealed interesting insights into the interactions between Zika virus proteins and host proteins, including human proteins. Learn more in this article featuring co-first author of the paper published in Cell, Dr. Nichole Link, a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Dr. Hugo Bellen.

As a postdoc in the lab or Dr. Marco Sardiello, Dr. Alberto di Ronza investigated the mystery of how mutations in a protein that is not in the lysosome would result in a lysosomal storage disorder. “I started this research because I wanted to contribute to the improvement of patients’ lives,” di Ronza said. “Patients with CLN8 defects have limited options, but I hope that this work will provide opportunities to explore potential new therapies for these patients.” Read this article that explains their study published in Nature Cell Biology.

Dr. Wenjun Zhou, postdoc in the lab of Dr. Zhen Sun, and Dr.  Yanlin He, postdoc in the lab of Dr. Yong Xu, were co-first authors on this study published in Nature Neuroscience. The team set out to investigate how the protein complex NCOR1/2 regulates memory. They ended up finding a new circuit that links the lateral hypothalamus and the hippocampus.

According to the accepted notion, fusion genes precede fusion RNA, but some studies have raised doubts that this is always the case. In this study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, first Author Dr. Sachin Kumar Gupta, postdoc in the lab of Dr. Laising Yen and colleagues, investigated whether a fusion RNA can induce the corresponding fusion gene.

An unconventional bacteria-based approach has successfully reversed deficits in social behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in genetic, environmental and idiopathic mouse models of the condition.  In this article, Dr. Mauro Costa-Mattioli, corresponding author of the work, and first author and postdoctoral associate, Dr. Martina Sgritta talk about their discovery that administration of the bacterial species Lactobacillus reuteri to mouse models of ASD leads to specific changes in the brain that result in the rescue of normal social behaviors. The research was published in Neuron.