Sunday, January 11, 2015

Creation Moment 1/12/2015 - SynGAP


"Animals learn and form memories when connections called synapses
among brain cells form and grow stronger. Researchers have long known that a crucial step in the process is the flow of calcium ions into the synapse area, but "what happens next has been a mystery for 25 years," says Rick Huganir,... Yoichi Araki, Ph.D., added chemicals to lab-grown neurons to spur them to form stronger connections and saw that at rest, a protein called SynGAP was concentrated in so-called dendritic spines that form synapses with other cells—a pattern previous experiments also had identified.But once the synapse-strengthening process began, SynGAP flooded out of the dendritic spines. The spines then grew larger, strengthening the synapses, Huganir says.

The research team found that SynGAP is usually clamped to the "scaffolding" that gives dendritic spines their structure.
There,
* it prevents the start of a chain reaction of chemical signals known as Ras,
which is needed for learning.
* An influx of calcium into the synapse activates CaMKII,
* which in turn unhooks SynGAP from the cells' scaffolding
* and spurs Ras signaling to begin."
MedicalPress
Talk about DESIGN....what if any one of these processes didn't happen? Then there would be no formation of memories....and so HOW did this evolve step-by-step over time? What purpose would one part serve without the others in place?
 ...for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Psalm 139:14