A molecule that protects from neuronal disorders

Many neuronal disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia and lissencephaly – a form of mental retardation -, result from abnormal migration of nerve cells during the development of the brain. Researchers from the Mouse Biology Unit of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Italy, have now discovered that a protein that helps organising the cells’ skeleton is crucial for preventing such defects.