A research team co-led by the University of California, Irvine, Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego has discovered that there are special neurons dedicated to representing the convex and concave features of environments (commonly referred to as “corners”) in their study of the brain’s spatial mapping system. 

The study titled “Subicular neurons encode concave and convex geometries” is published today online in the journal Nature. The discovery was made possible by extensive and close collaboration among Drs. Yanjun Sun (Stanford), Douglas A. Nitz (UCSD), Xu Xiangmin (UCI) and Lisa Giocomo (Stanford). Their findings have implications in understanding how our abilities of spatial navigation and environmental explorations are affected in aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Read more here: UCI School of Medicine News

“A research team led by the University of California, Irvine has created 20 new recombinant rabies viral vectors for neural circuit mapping that offer a range of significant advantages over existing tools, including the ability to detect microstructural changes in models of aging and Alzheimer’s disease brain neurons.

The study published today online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, introduced proof-of-concept data demonstrating the power of these new vectors, which express a range of improved fluorescent proteins to provide expanded multi-scale multi-modal capabilities. Naturally occurring rabies infections target the nervous system.  Scientists harnessed this tendency to create engineered forms of the rabies virus that are coupled to sensors and other payloads – for example, some respond to light by turning bright green and act as tracers that map brain circuits.

‘Viral genetic tools are critical for improving anatomical mapping and functional studies of cell-type-specific and circuit-specific neural networks,’ said Xiangmin Xu, co-corresponding author and UCI Chancellor’s Professor of anatomy & neurobiology and director of the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping. ‘These new variants significantly enhance the capability and reach of neural labeling and circuit mapping across microscopic and macroscopic imaging scales and modalities, including 3D light and X-ray microscopy. We will make these new tools readily available to the neuroscience community through our established service platform at the CNCM.'”

Read more here: UCI News

CNCM has released it’s first annual newsletter! This newsletter covers what we did last year as a center and showcases what there is to look forward to this year and beyond. There is also updates from our Viral Core, Conference Announcements, and Job Listings.

The full newsletter can be read here.

As announced by Vice Chancellor, Steve Goldstein, MD, PhD, FAAP on January 18, 2024, the Center for Neural Circuit Mapping Translational Neuroscience Program has been named one of the 12 high-impact, interdisciplinary research programs that has been selected for the new building and adjacent space.

“At 215,000 square feet, the building is slated to be the largest interdisciplinary discovery and translational research hub on the West Coast. Scheduled to open in 2025, it is made possible by the extraordinary generosity of Adeline Mah, MD, and Robert Mah, PhD, through their Falling Leaves Foundation.

The Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building is an embodiment of our collaborative One Health alliance, bringing together talent from across Health Affairs and attracting new recruits from around the globe. It will empower our clinicians and scientists to cure blindness, unlock breakthrough cancer treatments, revolutionize the treatment of neurological disorders, and harness genetics, proteomics and cutting-edge technologies to treat rare diseases and prevent common illnesses.”

For more information regarding the new project see here.

“A first-of-its-kind study led by the University of California, Irvine has revealed a new culprit in the formation of brain hemorrhages that does not involve injury to the blood vessels, as previously believed. Researchers discovered that interactions between aged red blood cells and brain capillaries can lead to cerebral microbleeds, offering deeper insights into how they occur and identifying potential new therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention.”

Read more here: https://news.uci.edu/2023/11/20/uc-irvine-led-study-is-first-to-find-brain-hemorrhage-cause-other-than-injured-blood-vessels/

“In this webinar, produced with support from Vizgen, Xiangmin Xu, PhD, will introduce several single-cell and spatial multi-omics technologies and describe how they can be used to improve our mechanistic understandings of brain circuit plasticity and neurodegenerative diseases. You will also learn about the University of California Irvine (UCI) Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM), which has emerged as a hub for new technology and resource development in the field of neuroscience, and their efforts to develop single-cell spatial multi-omics tools.”

This webinar originally aired on September 7th, 2023. For more information and to watch the webinar recording, please see the genengnews website article here: https://www.genengnews.com/topics/omics/rewiring-the-brain-applying-spatial-omics-to-neural-plasticity-and-neurodegenerative-diseases/

“The third annual conference hosted by the UC Irvine Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM) was held on August 21–23, 2023, at the Beckman Center of the National Academies of Science and Engineering in Irvine, California. Additional events also took place on August 24 on the UC Irvine campus. Hurricane Hillary generated additional anticipation ahead of the conference as she was forecasted to hit Irvine the night before the meeting, and to be the biggest storm in Irvine in ~100 years! To everyone’s relief, Hillary mostly petered out and was downgraded to a tropical storm by Saturday night. Thus, despite the “virtual option” we made available, nearly everyone attended the conference in person.”

Read the full meeting report on Nature.com here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-023-02308-4

The International Association of Biomedical Sciences will be holding their 2023 Forum in Irvine this year. The objective of this forum is to unite leading scientists in the neuroscience field, with a particular focus on Neurodegenerative Disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and related conditions. Speakers and attendees from across the globe will come together to share cutting-edge research findings, exchange innovative ideas, and foster stronger collaborations between academia and the industry to accelerate the advancement of novel therapies. Among the speakers is our very own Director, Dr. Xiangmin Xu!

Ultimately, the Forum aims to facilitate extensive interactions between academic researchers and biopharmaceutical companies, fostering a collaborative environment that expedites the development of groundbreaking diagnostics and therapeutics.

For more information and registration check out the IABS website: https://www.ia-bs.org/contents/52/139.html

The 2023 CNCM symposium on New Viral Vectors for Neural Circuit Mapping will be held on 11/6/2023 at UCI! Registration info can be found here: https://uci.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0vWxQel876tv1z0

UAMA&A will be taking place on December 13-16, 2023, in Santiago, Chile. This event is organized and cosponsored by IEB (Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity), and the University of California Irvine Center for Neural Circuit Mapping (CNCM).

Registration is open until November 10th but there is early bird discount pricing until October 15th. Please visit https://uamaa23.net/ for more information on the conference.

The abstract submission deadline has been extended to November 20th. Submission information can be found here. https://uamaa23.net/abstract-submission.html