부산대학교 도서관

Reshaping the brain's genetic circuits Mobilization of retrotransposons, genetic elements able to move around in the genome where they can become incorporated and start to amplify themselves, is normally suppressed in somatic cells. However, recent reports indicate that L1 retrotransposons can be mobilized in the human brain; this has important consequences for intercellular variation. Using a high-throughput approach, Baillie et al. identify numerous germ-line mutations and putative somatic insertions in the human hippocampus and caudate nucleus, including those of Alu elements. The implication is that retrotransposition-driven somatic mosaicism may reshape the genetic circuitry that underpins normal and abnormal neurobiological processes.