neuron's nucleus

[Ankit Gupta]

why do neurons have nucleus if they dont have to divide ? and i think they also do not synthesis any protein due to which they need nucleus dna etc.

[CharonY]

Some neurons do proliferate. But beside that a nucleus is also needed for basic functions as proteins have to be produced continuously (i.e. the the assumption in OP is wrong), and a lot of regulatory functions act on the DNA level, etc.

Only cells with very limited functions. especially with regards to the reaction to stimuli and are easy to replace could function without a nucleus.

[Ankit Gupta]

what kind of protein(s)

[EdEarl]

IIRC at least some species of fairyfly have neurons without a nucleus.

[Ankit Gupta]

what is IIRC

[EdEarl]

If I Recall Correctly

http://io9.com/5861630/fairy-wasps-shrink-to-the-size-of-amoeba-by-sacrificing-their-neurons

Edited September 26, 2013 by EdEarl

[Ringer]

what kind of protein(s)

Proteins that regulate branching, growth, etc. of dendrites, neurotransmitters and their precursors, receptors, etc.

[Ankit Gupta]

if we can clone a whole organism then why we cant clone a single neurone

[CharonY]

What? How do these two things relate to each other? We do have neuronal cell lines, which are clonal, but obviously this is quite a different goal than to clone an organism.

To enucleate a neuron without damaging is likely to be trickier than a germ cell line, but again, what would be the purpose of it? If you want to have clones of a cell it is easier just to grow them.

 

In addition to what Ringer said, also proteins for general metabolism, energy conservation etc.

[Ankit Gupta]

but we cannot grow neurons in tissue culture because they do not replicate and thats why we need stem cells to make them and if we can clone an neuron easily then we can cure disorders like paralysis easily (i think so)

[axon]

but we cannot grow neurons in tissue culture because they do not replicate and thats why we need stem cells to make them and if we can clone an neuron easily then we can cure disorders like paralysis easily (i think so)

not really because still we have a problem how to replace damaged cell ,but stem cells can differentiate (not sure if this is right word i mean just "get older/change " ) when injected in to for example grey matter ( in theory at least ) now research is being conducted on this topic to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis .

Edited September 29, 2013 by axon

[CharonY]

It is possible to grow certain neural cultures. The key is often onbtaining them from (rat) fetuses or very young rats. In these cases hippocampal cells can be stimulated to grow and proliferate. Hoever, in contrast to immortalized cell lines there is only a limited life time to them (afaik).

[Ringer]

It's not really as simple as sticking a neuron in a head then giving high-fives at a job well done. There are many supporting cells that are essential for neuronal functions, as well as many developmental cues that allow axonal migration at early stages of development. There is also a problem with implanted neural tissue being attacked by immune responses just like any other organ introduced into the body. There is continual study going on in these areas, so don't think I'm saying that something like that is impossible, but any biological system is more complicated than one may imagine.

 

As a side note that may be brought up anyway, there have been heart cells cultured from a patient then implanted into the patient's heart. But, as far as I'm aware, when they examined the implanted cells they worked independently from the cells in the heart. Meaning that they just kind of contracted on their own and didn't really help with heart contractions for pumping the blood. So analogous things are being attempted, but we're having difficulty with successful implementation for heart muscles so it's doubtful that the same thing would work for neurons.