The calcium sensor Copine-6 regulates spine structural plasticity and learning and memory

Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) represents the cellular response of excitatory synapses to specific patterns of high neuronal activity and is required for learning and memory. Here we identify a mechanism that requires the calcium-binding protein Copine-6 to translate the initial calcium signals into changes in spine structure. We show that Copine-6 is recruited from the cytosol of dendrites to postsynaptic spine membranes by calcium transients that precede LTP. Cpne6 knockout mice are deficient in hippocampal LTP, learning and memory. Hippocampal neurons from Cpne6 knockouts lack spine structural plasticity as do wild-type neurons that express a Copine-6 calcium mutant. The function of Copine-6 is based on its binding, activating and recruiting the Rho GTPase Rac1 to cell membranes. Consistent with this function, the LTP deficit of Cpne6 knockout mice is rescued by the actin stabilizer jasplakinolide. These data show that Copine-6 links activity-triggered calcium signals to spine structural plasticity necessary for learning and memory

The Activities of the Coroplastic Studies Interest Group

The Coroplastic Studies Interest Group (CSIG) held a meeting at the 121st Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Society for Classical Studies in Washington, DC (January 3–6, 2020)

Religion in Ancient Greece and Rome: Contacts, Encounters and Exchanges

Introduction - Englis

The Treasuries of the Siphnians: Myth, Wealth and Decline Through the Exam of Archaeological Evidence

During the Archaic period, Sifnos was one of the wealthiest communities in the Greek world. The island’s gold and silver mines not only captured the imagination of Greek writers such as Herodotus and Pausanias, but also made possible the construction of one of the earliest religious structures fabricated entirely out of marble: the Treasury of the Sifnians in Delphi. Although this magnificent monument has been a subject of continuous scholarly study and debate, little is known about the people who created it. The scant physical and literary evidence left by the Sifnians as well as a discourse that has emphasized the island’s insignificance after the Archaic period, has certainly hampered scholars from dedicating much attention to the island. This paper therefore attempts a more defined picture of the Sifnians by reevaluating ancient texts that discuss the wealth and decay of the island along with rare but important and thus far understudied archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence that has survived on the island.  

Religião na Grécia e Roma Antigas: Contatos, Encontros e Trocas

Apresentação do dossiê Religião na Grécia e Roma Antigas: Contatos, Encontros e Trocas. Versão em português