Scientists at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California have discovered hundreds of proteins that are constantly transported throughout the healthy brain in small membrane-enclosed sacs (exosomes), revealing a new form of communication between brain cells. The findings, published online in the January 25, 2022 issue of Cell Reports, could help scientists better understand neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s and autism. The article is titled “Proteomic Screen Reveals Diverse Protein Transport Between Connected Neurons In The Visual System.” “This is an entirely new way that cells in the brain can communicate with one another that has never before been integrated into how we think about health and disease,” says Hollis Cline, PhD, Hahn Professor of Neuroscience at Scripps Research. “It opens up a lot of exciting avenues of research.”