So excited to share this work with the world! 🧠

Watanabe Lab @JHU@watanabelab.bsky.social · 2w ago

New preprint alert from the Watanabe lab!! Have you wondered what microglia are surveying with their motile processes? Have you wondered what happens to proteolytic organelles that are stuck in axons? Check this out! Microglia are the garbage man! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

New preprint alert from the Watanabe lab!! Have you wondered what microglia are surveying with their motile processes? Have you wondered what happens to proteolytic organelles that are stuck in axons? Check this out! Microglia are the garbage man! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Microglia extract neuronal proteolytic organelles via skoupocytosis

Neurons face unique challenges in maintaining protein homeostasis due to their tortuous morphology and extended processes. Proteolytic organelles are typically transported retrogradely towards their s...

biorxiv.org

We are hosting our annual cell biology symposium at the Johns Hopkins DC campus on 4/10/26. We have two fantastic keynote speakers. Excellent opportunities to preset your work and connect! The registration is free and open till 3/8/2016. please rt.

Happy to share our new paper, just published in @cellpress.bsky.social. We show that our zap&freeze approach can be used in human brain tissues to study synaptic membrane dynamics! Our brain is ultrafast after all! nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

Johns Hopkins scientists discover how a protein organizes message-carrying "bubbles" in brain synapses—advancing understanding of memory formation and learning. www.oneneurojhu.org/... @watanabelab.bsky.social

I am incredibly honored to receive this award! But now that I am behind the computer all day, this really is for the team! Congrats to the Watanabe lab!

American Society for Cell Biology@ascbiology.bsky.social · last yr.

Meet the 2025 ASCB Award Winners—trailblazing scientists honored for research, mentoring, education, and innovation. Celebrate excellence across all career stages in cell biology. Read more: www.ascb.org/society-news...

We're thrilled to announce the largest private gift in our 137-year history: a $25 million unrestricted donation from MBL Whitman Scientist Mark Terasaki. His extraordinary generosity will bolster our renowned research and education programs. 🔬 Learn more: bit.ly/452WL1m

MBL Announces Largest Ever Gift for Its Renowned Biological Education and Research Programs | Marine Biological Laboratory

Cell Biology Researcher Mark Terasaki’s $25 Million Unrestricted Gift Will Support Operations and Infrastructure Contact: Samantha Cummis scummis@mbl.edu; 973.800.4119

bit.ly

We unrestrained mice to study how they use their whiskers to learn a discrimination task. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice - Nature Communications

Task paradigms allowing studies on the core ethological function of the whiskers are lacking. Authors here present a task for freely moving mice that enables the study of how the brain processes touch...

nature.com

Intersectin and endophilin condensates prime synaptic vesicles for release site replenishment @watanabelab.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Intersectin and endophilin condensates prime synaptic vesicles for release site replenishment - Nature Neuroscience

Time-resolved electron microscopy reveals that intersectin-1 and endophilin A1 condensates hold replacement synaptic vesicles close to release sites. Without this, replacement vesicles are unavailable...

nature.com

Super excited to share that our new study is published @natneuro.nature.com today!! Here we show that intersectin and endophilin form condensates between the active zone and the reserve pool and maintain synaptic vesicles near the active zone for rapid replenishment. rdcu.be/evi5y

We wrote a review article on ultrafast endocytosis and its mechanisms and relevance to diseases. Enjoy! pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40062769/

Beyond Clathrin: Decoding the Mechanism of Ultrafast Endocytosis - PubMed

Endocytosis in nonneuronal cells requires gradual recruitment of proteins to endocytic sites for inducing membrane curvature and forming scaffolds around the neck of endocytic pits. This recruitment p...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A new preprint alert from the lab!! Evidence for ultrafast endocytosis in inhibitory synapses!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A weekend fun with the lab! Welcoming four new members to the lab!!

Excited to share our new preprint "Dynamic nanoscale architecture of synaptic vesicle fusion in mouse hippocampal neurons" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We combine optogenetic stimulation of neurons with in situ cryo-ET to characterize membrane dynamics during synaptic vesicle fusion ❄️🔬⏱️

New preprint from the MemTraS team ! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Great collaboration with @fronzeslab.bsky.social and Vladan Lucic to determine the first cryo electron tomography images of dopamine "synapses" extracted from adult mouse brain.

another piece, covering our work! Thanks to Laura Tran at the Scientist!! www.the-scientist.com/challenging-...

Challenging the Axon’s Classic Shape

Forget the traditional tubular shape—researchers are investigating a pearl-on-a-string formation for axons, unlocking new insights into neural signaling in health and disease.

the-scientist.com

📆Deadline extension alert!📆 The last day to submit applications for the MBL's 2025 Neurobiology course has been moved to February 3. Don't miss your opportunity to apply! Read more: bit.ly/3C2psks #ScienceStartsHere

another preprint to end 2024! Wondered how synaptic vesicles are recycled in human brains? and whether you can use human brain tissues to address it? You bet! We used live human brain slices and demonstrated that ultrafast endocytosis does it!! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Here's another article, covering our work!! www.sciencenews.org/article/axon...

The message-sending part of neurons may be blobby, not smooth

Axons can be shaped like strings of pearls, research in mice and people show. How that shape may influence brain signaling is not yet clear.

sciencenews.org

Study finds axons are not the cylindrical tubes pictured in books but more like pearls on a string. Article Link: www.oneneurojhu.org/2024/12/10/s... “These findings challenge a century of understanding about axon structure,” says lead researcher Shigeki Watanabe, Ph.D. @watanabelab.bsky.social

This new study, led by Shigeki Watanabe and partially conducted in the MBL’s Neurobiology course, challenges a fundamental tenet in neuroscience about the shape of axons and proposes a new model for understanding how information is transmitted in the brain. #science 🧪 🧠

A String of Pearls: Study Challenges Long-held Beliefs about Nerve Cell Shape and Function | Marine Biological Laboratory

WOODS HOLE, Mass. -- In a provocative new study, scientists challenge a fundamental tenet in neuroscience about the shape of axons -- the long, thin filaments radiating from nerve cells that transmit ...

mbl.edu

Did we conceive the structure of neurons incorrectly all these years? nature.com/articles/s41... not smooth, cylindrical strands but a string of pearls? it's controversial science.org/content/arti... @science.org

Membrane mechanics dictate axonal pearls-on-a-string morphology and function - Nature Neuroscience

Axons have always been assumed to be cylindrical. Using in silico modeling and cryopreservation of tissues, Griswold et al. demonstrate that unmyelinated axons of the mammalian central nervous system ...

nature.com

Important article that challenges the classic view of axons as simple tubes. To what extent they fluctuate in diameter is up for debate - see some thoughts in this commentary piece in @science.org. Exciting time for axon scientists!

Controversial study redraws classical picture of the neuron

Let’s go with: Fine-grained imaging of mouse brain cells suggests “pearling” of axons that researchers think may help with signaling

science.org

Watanabe Lab @JHU@watanabelab.bsky.social · 2y ago

Excited to share our latest findings, now published @NatureNeuro www.nature.com/articles/s41... We found unmyelinated axons exhibit pearls-on-a-string morphology's due to their membrane mechanical properties. Threads will follow!

Excited to share our latest findings, now published @NatureNeuro www.nature.com/articles/s41... We found unmyelinated axons exhibit pearls-on-a-string morphology's due to their membrane mechanical properties. Threads will follow!