Harvard group suggests PirB role in neuronal plasticity

Researchers at the Harvard Medical School in the USA say that paired-immunoglobulin like receptor-B (PirB), previously thought to only play a role in immunity, may be involved in the development of neuronal stability associated with increasing age. The group explained that the transition from the highly-malleable plasticity of youthful neuronal connections to the more fixed linkages that develop with age, has never been properly explained but believes that the PirB receptor may play a role.

The report, which was published in the August 17 issue of the School's Science Press, showed that immature, PirB-deprived mice exhibited greater plasticity than brains endowed with the protein. Lead author, Josh Syken, the HMS' instructor in neurobiology, said: "our study of mutant mice lacking PirB function reveals that, at all ages, even during critical periods when circuits are prone to change, there are active molecular mechanisms that function to limit synaptic plasticity." He added that one way of repairing damaged regions of the brain may be to target local PirB levels.