A study carried out by Dr. Eduardo Soriano, head of research group in http://en.vhir.org/portal1/grup-equip.asp?t=desenvolupament-i-regeneracio-neuronal&s=recerca&contentid=186944 Neuronal Development and Regeneration of Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR) and the Research Group on Developmental Neurobiology and Regenaration of the Neurosciences Institute of Universitat de Barcelona, and Dra. Yasmina Manso, of the same group, and researchers of other institutions, has demonstrated the main role of NEK7, a microtubule regulation protein, in dendrite growth and branching in neurons and in synapse formation. The work has been published in https://www.nature.com/ncomms/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkrrgx4iF3AIVBoXVCh3N1AV5EAAYASAAEgIaUvD_BwE Nature Communications.Neurons are one of the most polarized cells in our organism, with two clearly distinct domains: one with a long and thin axon and the other with the cell body and the multiple shorter dendrites. This polarity makes that the nervous impulse moves in a determined direction, inside the neuron from the dendrite which receives the signal to the axon, and from here to other cells. Thus, the electric signal moves properly in the nervous system.The neuron embryonic development, their differentiation to mature cells and their good function depend on a protein tridimensional framework named cytoesqueleton, present in all cells, that supports them, organizes their internal structures and participates in the transport, traffic and cellular division. Some pieces of cytoesqueleton are structures called microtubules, a kind of track where the molecules and structures are transported inside the cell. Microtubules get organized and grow up regulated by certain proteins called microtubule regulators.This study, led by Jens Luders, of IRB Barcelona, has identified a microtubule regulator protein, NEK7, which has an important play in dendrite morphogenesis. It does its function through another protein, Eg5, which would stabilize the microtubules, avoiding their degradation and thus promoting dendrite growth and branching. The study was performed by culture cells and mouse. First, neuron cultures at different stages of differentiation and maturation were used, from mouse cerebral tissue and more than 1500 microtubules cytoskeleton-associated genes were studied. It was observed that NEK7 gen incremented his expression at late stages. Also, when they used NEK 7 knockdown mouse there were a reduction in number and dendrite length. So they conclude NEK7 plays a major role in the regulation of dendrite morphogenesis in neurons.Current study represents a step forward in the understanding of how the cytoskeleton, and in particular the microtubule and their associated proteins, determine the neuron structure and function and synaptic formation. Both processes, neuronal synaptic and structure, are altered in neurodegenerative diseases, so this study open the door to investigation the function of these cytoesqueleton components in these diseases.