Biology subjects

Balaban, P. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Balaban, P. M..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

EPIGENETIC REPROGRAMMING OF CELL IDENTITY IN THE RAT PRIMARY NEURON-GLIA CULTURES INVOLVES HISTONE SEROTONYLATION

Epigenetic rearrangements can create a favorable environment for the intrinsic plasticity of brain cells, leading to cellular reprogramming into virtually any cell type through the induction of cell-specific transcriptional programs. In this study, we assessed how chromatin remodeling induced by broad-spectrum HDAC inhibitors affects cellular differentiation trajectories in rat primary neuron-glia cultures using a combination of transcriptomics, qPCR and cytochemistry. We described epigenetic regulation of transcriptional programs controlled by master transcription factors and neurotrophins in the context of neuronal and glial differentiation and evaluated the expression of representative cell-specific markers. The results obtained suggest that HDAC inhibitors reduce proliferative potential of cultured cells and induce transcriptomic changes associated with cell differentiation and specialization. Particularly, we revealed a significant upregulation of genes typically expressed in neuromodulatory neurons, and downregulation of genes expressed in glia and inhibitory neurons. Transcriptional changes were accompanied by continuous elevation of histone serotonylation levels in both neurons and glia. We assume that early appearance of the enhanced histone serotonylation marks, and the persistence of these changes over many hours in distinct brain cells may indicate that chromatin remodeling induced by histone serotonylation contributes to the maintainance of a new transcriptional programs associated with cellular reprogramming.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Rapid neurostimulation at micron scale with optically controlled thermal-capture technique

Precise control of cellular temperature at the microscale is crucial for developing novel neurostimulation techniques. Here, we study the effect of local heat on the electrophysiological properties of cells at the subcellular level using a cutting-edge micrometer-scale thermal probe, the diamond heater-thermometer (DHT). Experiments on primary neuronal cultures and HEK293 cells revealed that millisecond heat pulses could induce reversible changes in membrane potential and elicit ionic displacement currents. At local temperatures close to 50 {degrees}C, a rapid increase in cellular response by an order of magnitude was observed, attributed to local phase changes in the phospholipid membrane at the point of contact with the DHT. This allows the cell membrane to be effectively and reproducibly captured by temperature, referred to as thermal-capture mode (TCM). Once transition to TCM occurred, even lower temperatures (<35 {degrees}C) elicited depolarization up to 10 mV in neurons, sufficient for triggering action potentials with rates up to 30 Hz. Additionally, the impact of high temperatures beyond the physiological range on the electrophysiology of the cell was assessed. These findings enhance the understanding of how local heat affects cellular functions and provide insights into the thermal modulation of cell activity.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2023

Thermogenetic control of Ca2+ levels in cells and tissues

Virtually all major processes in cells and tissues are regulated by calcium ions (Ca2+). Understanding the influence of Ca2+ on cell function requires technologies that allow for non-invasive manipulation of intracellular calcium levels including the formation of calcium patterns, ideally in a way that is expandable to intact organisms. The currently existing tools for optical and optogenetic Ca2+ manipulation are limited with respect to response time, and tissue penetration depth. Here we present Genetically Encoded Calcium Controller (GECCO), a system for thermogenetic Ca2+ manipulation based on snake TRP channels optically controlled by infrared illumination. GECCO is functional in animal and plant cells and allows studying how cells decode different profiles of Ca2+ signals. GECCO enabled the shaping of insulin release from {beta}-cells, the identification of drugs that potentiate Ca2+-induced insulin release, and the generation of synthetic Ca2+ signatures in plants.

synthetic biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Action Potentials and Na+ voltage-gated ion channels in Placozoa

Placozoa are small disc-shaped animals, representing the simplest known, possibly ancestral, organization of free-living animals. With only six morphological distinct cell types, without any recognized neurons or muscle, placozoans exhibit fast effector reactions and complex behaviors. However, little is known about electrogenic mechanisms in these animals. Here, we showed the presence of rapid action potentials in four species of placozoans (Trichoplax adhaerens [H1 haplotype], Trichoplax sp.[H2], Hoilungia hongkongensis [H13], and Hoilungia sp. [H4]). These action potentials are sodium-dependent and can be inducible. The molecular analysis suggests the presence of 5-7 different types of voltage-gated sodium channels, which showed substantial evolutionary radiation compared to many other metazoans. Such unexpected diversity of sodium channels in early-branched animal lineages reflect both duplication events and parallel evolution of unique behavioral integration in these nerveless animals. HighlightsO_LIPlacozoans are the simplest known animals without recognized neurons and muscles C_LIO_LIWith only six morphological cell types, placozoans showed complex & rapid behaviors C_LIO_LISodium-dependent action potentials have been discovered in intact animals C_LIO_LIVoltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) in Placozoa support a rapid behavioral integration C_LIO_LIPlacozoans have more Nav channels that any studied invertebrate animal so far C_LIO_LIDiversification of Nav-channels highlight the unique evolution of these nerveless animals C_LI O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=157 SRC="FIGDIR/small/243113v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (52K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4d9c5forg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15539bforg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4246faorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@141e5fe_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

evolutionary biology↗