RESUMO
In recent decades, a profound conceptual transformation has occurred comprising different areas of biological research, leading to a novel understanding of life processes as much more dynamic and changeable. Discoveries in plants and animals, as well as novel experimental approaches, have prompted the research community to reconsider established concepts and paradigms. This development was taken as an incentive to organise a workshop in May 2014 at the Academia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome. There, experts on epigenetics, regeneration, neuroplasticity, and computational biology, using different animal and plant models, presented their insights on important aspects of a dynamic architecture of life, which comprises all organisational levels of the organism. Their work demonstrates that a dynamic nature of life persists during the entire existence of the organism and permits animals and plants not only to fine-tune their response to particular environmental demands during development, but underlies their continuous capacity to do so. Here, a synthesis of the different findings and their relevance for biological thinking is presented.
RESUMO
The transmembrane glycoprotein teneurin 2 is expressed by neurons in the developing avian thalamofugal visual system at periods that correspond with target recognition and synaptogenesis. Partial and full-length teneurin 2 constructs were expressed in cell lines in vitro. Expression of the cytoplasmic domain is required for the induction of filopodia, the transport of teneurin 2 into neurites and the co-localization of teneurin 2 with the cortical actin cytoskeleton. In addition, expression of the extracellular domain of teneurin 2 by HT1080 cells induced cell aggregation, and the extracellular domain of teneurin 2 became concentrated at sites of cell-cell contact in neuroblastoma cells. These observations indicate that the homophilic binding of teneurin 2 may play a role in the development of specific neuronal circuits in the developing visual system.
