Entity Detail — Knowledge Graph Node
This page aggregates everything SciDEX knows about NEURONS: its mechanistic relationships (Knowledge Graph edges), hypotheses targeting it, analyses mentioning it, and supporting scientific papers. The interactive graph below shows its immediate neighbors. All content is AI-synthesized from peer-reviewed literature.
Neurons are the fundamental information-processing cells of the nervous system, transmitting electrical and chemical signals across synapses. The human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons organized into circuits for perception, cognition, and motor control. Key subtypes include excitatory glutamatergic pyramidal neurons, inhibitory GABAergic interneurons (parvalbumin+, somatostatin+, VIP+), dopaminergic neurons (substantia nigra, VTA), and cholinergic neurons (basal forebrain). Selective neuronal vulnerability is a hallmark of neurodegeneration: entorhinal cortex layer II neurons in AD, dopaminergic neurons in PD, motor neurons in ALS, and medium spiny neurons in HD. Neuronal loss correlates more strongly with cognitive decline than amyloid plaques, driving interest in neuroprotective strategies.
No AI portrait yet
| Name | NEURONS |
| Key Genes/Proteins | 3r-tau, 4r-tau, AB, ABCA1, ABCA7, ACHE |
| Related Diseases | acetylcholine, ACETYLCHOLINE |
Knowledge base pages for this entity
flowchart TD
NEURONS["NEURONS"]
PARKINSON["PARKINSON"]
PARKINSON_S["PARKINSON'S"]
PARKINSON_S_DISEASE["PARKINSON'S DISEASE"]
PARKIN(["PARKIN"])
STING(["STING"])
OPTN(["OPTN"])
SPINAL_CORD["SPINAL CORD"]
VCP(["VCP"])
NEUROTRANSMISSION["NEUROTRANSMISSION"]
PI3K(["PI3K"])
REMYELINATION["REMYELINATION"]
NEURONS -->|"activates"| PARKINSON
NEURONS -->|"activates"| PARKINSON_S
NEURONS -->|"activates"| PARKINSON_S_DISEASE
NEURONS -->|"biomarker for"| PARKIN
NEURONS -->|"biomarker for"| PARKINSON
NEURONS -->|"biomarker for"| PARKINSON_S
NEURONS -.->|"inhibits"| STING
NEURONS -->|"causes"| OPTN
NEURONS -->|"reduces"| SPINAL_CORD
NEURONS -->|"expressed in"| SPINAL_CORD
NEURONS -->|"activates"| VCP
NEURONS -->|"contributes to"| VCP
NEURONS -->|"stabilizes"| NEUROTRANSMISSION
NEURONS -->|"activates"| PI3K
NEURONS -.->|"inhibits"| REMYELINATION
style NEURONS fill:#006494,stroke:#4fc3f7,stroke-width:3px,color:#e0e0e0| Target | Relation | Type | Str |
|---|---|---|---|
| ds-f2c28aed24a7 | provides_data_for | dataset | 1.00 |
| ds-f2c28aed24a7 | data_in | dataset | 1.00 |
| Neurovascular Unit | component_of | process | 0.95 |
| Neurodegenerative Diseases | associated_with | disease | 0.90 |
| neuroinflammation | activates | disease | 0.90 |
| neurodegeneration | causes | disease | 0.90 |
| neurodegeneration | regulates | disease | 0.90 |
| neurodegeneration | expressed_in | disease | 0.90 |
| ALS | causes | disease | 0.90 |
| neurodegeneration | associated_with | disease | 0.90 |
| Alzheimer's disease | activates | disease | 0.90 |
| Signal Transmission | involved_in | process | 0.90 |
| Network Integration | involved_in | process | 0.90 |
| neurodegeneration | activates | disease | 0.90 |
| Alzheimer's disease | associated_with | disease | 0.90 |
| ALS | associated_with | disease | 0.90 |
| Premature Senescence | associated_with | phenotype | 0.90 |
| Synaptic Properties | expressed_in | phenotype | 0.85 |
| Neuroinflammation | involved_in | process | 0.85 |
| Cancer Cells | interacts_with | cell_type | 0.85 |
| Antimicrobial peptides | expressed_in | protein | 0.85 |
| autophagy pathway | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| pyroptosis | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| mitochondrial function | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| NAD+ metabolism | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| glutamate signaling | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| synaptic plasticity | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| unfolded protein response | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| neurotrophin signaling | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| cholesterol homeostasis | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| circadian regulation | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| insulin signaling | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| oxidative stress response | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| brain-derived extracellular vesicles | mediates | compound | 0.85 |
| epigenetic regulation | active_in | pathway | 0.85 |
| Parkinson's Disease | associated_with | disease | 0.80 |
| NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES | targets | disease | 0.80 |
| mitochondrial dysfunction | mediates | process | 0.80 |
| pyroptosis | activates | process | 0.80 |
| neurodegeneration | inhibits | disease | 0.80 |
| neurodegeneration | interacts_with | disease | 0.80 |
| ALS | activates | disease | 0.80 |
| Proteasome Downregulation | expressed_in | process | 0.80 |
| Alzheimer's disease | interacts_with | disease | 0.80 |
| Parkinson's disease | associated_with | disease | 0.80 |
| ferroptosis | activates | process | 0.80 |
| neuroinflammation | regulates | disease | 0.80 |
| tau phosphorylation | activates | process | 0.80 |
| PROTECTIVE EFFECTS | exerts | phenotype | 0.80 |
| neurodegeneration | implicated_in | process | 0.80 |
| Source | Relation | Type | Str |
|---|---|---|---|
| cell-types-dendritic-spine-degeneration-neurons | describes | wiki | 1.00 |
| ds-f2c28aed24a7 | data_in | dataset | 1.00 |
| opsin | activates | protein | 0.95 |
| Astrocytes | associated_with | cell_type | 0.95 |
| CX3CL1 | interacts_with | protein | 0.95 |
| Neuronal Surface Molecules | expressed_in | biomarker | 0.95 |
| Somatic Genomic Changes | associated_with | process | 0.95 |
| SLC45A1 | expressed_in | protein | 0.95 |
| Epigenetic Modifications | involved_in | process | 0.95 |
| Mitochondrial Respiration | involved_in | process | 0.95 |
| CYP46A1 | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| Parkinson's disease | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| ALS | protects_against | gene | 0.90 |
| Hph-Rnpec | targets | drug | 0.90 |
| unfolded protein response | active_in | pathway | 0.90 |
| STING | activates | gene | 0.90 |
| ALS | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| BDNF-TrkB signaling | active_in | pathway | 0.90 |
| Optogenetics | modulates | process | 0.90 |
| SST | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| CX3CL1 | expressed_in | protein | 0.90 |
| aging | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| NF-kB signaling | active_in | pathway | 0.90 |
| synaptic plasticity | active_in | pathway | 0.90 |
| APP | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| 38874704 | is mainly expressed in | paper | 0.90 |
| NLRP3 | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| autism | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| PVALB | associated_with | gene | 0.90 |
| epilepsy | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| GDNF | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| lipid metabolism | active_in | pathway | 0.90 |
| TOM40 | expressed_in | protein | 0.90 |
| Optogenetics | activates | process | 0.90 |
| 39145444 | induced in | paper | 0.90 |
| neurodegeneration | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| BDNF | associated_with | gene | 0.90 |
| CD38 | expressed_in | protein | 0.90 |
| AMPK | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| FTLD | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| TH | associated_with | gene | 0.90 |
| neuroinflammation | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| ALS | associated_with | gene | 0.90 |
| anxiety | affects | disease | 0.90 |
| TNF | expressed_in | gene | 0.90 |
| APP | regulates | gene | 0.90 |
| SUM-PAINT | associated_with | process | 0.90 |
| APP | inhibits | gene | 0.90 |
| SST | regulates | gene | 0.90 |
| Tat-NTS peptide | protects_against | compound | 0.90 |
Hypotheses where this entity is a therapeutic target
Scientific analyses that reference this entity
drug delivery | 2026-04-15 | 0 hypotheses
neurodegeneration | 2026-04-04 | 9 hypotheses Top: 0.779
neurodegeneration | 2026-04-04 | 7 hypotheses Top: 0.769
Experimental studies targeting or related to this entity
| Experiment | Type | Disease | Score | Feasibility | Model | Status | Est. Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant-based dietary patterns and Alzheimer's disease risk in multiethn | clinical | Alzheimer's disease and relate | 0.950 | 0.00 | human patients | proposed | N/A |
| Epigenetic clocks association with brain aging patterns in older women | exploratory | cognitive impairment and demen | 0.900 | 0.00 | human patients | proposed | N/A |
| Closed-loop tFUS Enhances Glymphatic Clearance and Restores CA1 PV Int | in_vivo | Alzheimer's disease | 0.765 | 0.55 | APP/PS1 mice 8-11 months (n=10 | abandoned | $125,000 |
| tFUS Targeting EC-II SST Interneurons Restores Hippocampal-Prefrontal | in_vivo | Alzheimer's disease | 0.744 | 0.48 | hAPP-J20 mice (n=10/group x 3 | abandoned | $110,000 |
Scientific publications cited in analyses involving this entity
| Title & PMID | Authors | Journal | Year | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retinal Müller glia alterations and their impact on ocular glymphatic clearance [PMID:41603340] | Das G, Raghunathan R, Wang L | J Alzheimers Dis | 2026 | 0 |
| The Glymphatic-Venous Axis in Brain Clearance Failure: Aquaporin-4 Dysfunction, [PMID:41226584] | ["Costea D", "Dobrin N", "Tataru C", "To | International journal of molec | 2025 | 0 |
| Longitudinal changes of blood-brain barrier and transcytolemmal water exchange p [PMID:40089221] | Xiong C, Yu Z, Yin Y | Neuroimage | 2025 | 0 |
| Targeting Neural Oscillations for Cognitive Enhancement in Alzheimer’s Disease [PMID:40142358] | Federica Palacino, P. Manganotti, A. Ben | {'name': 'Medicina', 'volume': | 2025 | 0 |
| The future of biomarkers for vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and [PMID:40542975] | Lennon MJ, Karvelas N, Ganesh A | Geroscience | 2025 | 0 |
| P-tau217 correlates with neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease, and targeting [PMID:38513667] | Zhang D, Zhang W, Ming C, Gao X, Yuan H, | Neuron | 2024 | 0 |
| The necroptosis cell death pathway drives neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disea [PMID:38852117] | Balusu S, De Strooper B | Acta neuropathologica | 2024 | 0 |
| Insulin Resistance and Diabetes Mellitus in Alzheimer's Disease. [PMID:34069890] | Burillo J, Marqués P, Jiménez B, Gonzále | Cells | 2021 | 0 |
| Impact of 40 Hz Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation on Cerebral Tau Bur [PMID:34958021] | M. Dhaynaut, G. Sprugnoli, D. Cappon | {'name': "Journal of Alzheimer | 2021 | 0 |
| Improvement of glymphatic-lymphatic drainage of beta-amyloid by focused ultrasou [PMID:32999351] | Lee Y, Choi Y, Park EJ | Sci Rep | 2020 | 0 |
| Intraneuronal beta-amyloid aggregates, neurodegeneration, and neuron loss in tra [PMID:17021169] | ["Oakley, Holly", "Cole, Sarah L", "Loga | The Journal of neuroscience : | 2006 | 0 |
| The amyloid hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: progress and problems on the road [PMID:12130773] | ["Hardy, John", "Selkoe, Dennis J"] | Science (New York, N.Y.) | 2002 | 0 |
Multi-agent debates referencing this entity
closed · Rounds: 6 · Score: 0.95 · 2026-04-27
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.46 · 2026-04-27
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.44 · 2026-04-27
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.46 · 2026-04-27
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.50 · 2026-04-26
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.50 · 2026-04-26
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.50 · 2026-04-26
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.81 · 2026-04-23
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.75 · 2026-04-16
closed · Rounds: 4 · Score: 0.50 · 2026-04-16
Hypotheses and analyses mentioning NEURONS in their description or question text
Score: 0.827 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-16
## Mechanistic Overview Closed-loop transcranial focused ultrasound to restore hippocampal gamma oscillations via glymph
Score: 0.827 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-07
## Mechanistic Overview Real-time gamma-guided transcranial focused ultrasound targeting EC-II SST interneurons to resto
Score: 0.797 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-07
## Mechanistic Overview Closed-loop transcranial focused ultrasound targeting CA1 PV interneurons with real-time gamma f
Score: 0.784 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-05
## Mechanistic Overview Closed-loop tACS targeting entorhinal cortex layer II SST interneurons to activate AMPK-autophag
Score: 0.764 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-05
## Mechanistic Overview Closed-loop tACS targeting EC-II PV interneurons to suppress burst firing and block tau propagat
Score: 0.720 · neurodegeneration · 2026-04-22
**Molecular Mechanism and Rationale** The molecular basis of this hypothesis centers on the structural and biochemical
Score: 0.716 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-07
## Mechanistic Overview Closed-loop focused ultrasound targeting CA1 PV interneurons to restore theta-gamma coupling and
Score: 0.704 · Alzheimer's disease · 2026-04-07
## Mechanistic Overview Closed-loop transcranial focused ultrasound targeting EC-II SST interneurons to prevent tau prop
Score: 0.703 · neurodegeneration · 2026-04-26
TDP-43 aggregates sequester hepatocyte growth factor-regulated tyrosine kinase substrate (HGS), a critical hub coordinat
Score: 0.702 · ALS · 2026-04-27
Loss of nuclear TDP-43 in ALS motor neurons first manifests as aberrant inclusion of the STMN2 cryptic exon 2a, producin