Last updated on March 16, 2014 at 1:21 EDT   March 11, 2011
Uncovering Rare Receptors   Bartfai’s group has long been
interested in a class of nerve cells in the brain called “warm
sensitive neurons.” These cells sense and respond to changes in
body temperature, acting like a thermometer inside the brain. As
body temperature increases, warm sensitive neurons become more
active, telling the body to bring its temperature down. Without
this regulation, body temperature could reach dangerous levels,
even leading to death.  In the past 60 years, scientists had
identified about a dozen receptors on warm sensitive neurons
that regulate these nerve cells’ activity. But Bartfai wanted to
find additional receptors to better understand how the cells
function.   Sequencing Single Neurons  Bartfai and Eberwine took
a unique approach to indentifying gene activity.   By matching
the DNA sequences obtained to published sequences, the
scientists were able to identify the corresponding genes, and
thus which genes are turn