This week I got interested in how a cell adapts too changes in size (for example, the membrane area of a neuron grows by several orders of magnitude during development).

• Marguerat and Bahler (2012) - Coordinating genome expression with cell size.
• Rafelski and Marshall (2012) - Building the cell: design principles of cellular architecture.
• Levy and Heald (2012) - Mechanisms of Intracellular Scaling.
• Marshall (2015) - How Cells Measure Length on Subcellular Scales.
• Singer and Nicolson (1972) - The Fluid Mosaic Model of the Structure of Cell Membranes. More or less our current understanding of membranes: the membrane as a 2D lipid solution of proteins.
• Hartmann et al (2016) - Transaural experiments and a revised duplex theory for the localization of low-frequency tones. Apparently ILD is an important localization cue in low frequency (combined with ITD).

• Frank (1954) - General Theory of Heart-Vector Projection. Classic electrophysiological theory of the heart.
• Kim and Rutherford (2016) - Maturation of NaV and KV Channel Topographies in the Auditory Nerve Spike Initiator before and after Developmental Onset of Hearing Function.
• Benned and Jensen (2016) - Live Imaging of Kv7.2/7.3 Cell Surface Dynamics at the Axon Initial Segment- High Steady-State Stability and Calpain-Dependent Excitotoxic Downregulation Revealed.
• Gao et al (2016) - Universal resilience patterns in complex networks. Mathematical work on robustness.
• Philips and Milo (2009) - A feeling for the numbers in biology. An introduction to the bionumbers database.
• Le Bihan and Johansen-Berg (2012) - Diffusion MRI at 25 Exploring brain tissue structure and function. Diffusion of water in the brain.
• Tasaki et al (1985) - Rapid swelling of neurons during synaptic transmission in the bullfrog sympathetic ganglion. Electroosmotic effects in neurons.
• Bressloff and Levien (2015) - Synaptic Democracy and Vesicular Transport in Axons. Mathematical work on axonal transport.
• Zhang et al (2016) - Axon Membrane Skeleton Structure is Optimized for Coordinated Sodium Propagation. Functional significance of the ring structure of the axon.

• Sillar et al (2008) - Neuromodulation and developmental plasticity in the locomotor system of anuran amphibians during metamorphosis. Metamorphosis: the ultimate plasticity.
• Bertrand and Cazalets (2013) - Activity-dependent Synaptic Plasticity and Metaplasticity in Spinal Motor Networks. Plasticity of motor control.
• LeMasson et al (1993) - Activity-dependent regulation of conductances in model neurons. A bit (too) short, but a seminal paper on intrinsic plasticity.
• Abbott and LeMasson (1993) - Analysis of Neuron Models with Dynamically Regulated Conductances. The same, but more detailed (interesting analysis).
• Henson et al (1994) - The Baroreceptor Reflex- A Biological Control System with Applications in Chemical Process Control. Cardiovascular control.

•  Celani et al (2014). Odor Landscapes in Turbulent Environments. The ecological problem of odor localization.
• Lewandowska et al (2015). Recording Large Extracellular Spikes in Microchannels along Many Axonal Sites from Individual Neurons. Interesting system to monitor axon activity in cultures.
• Bertrand and Cazalets (2013). Activity-dependent Synaptic Plasticity and Metaplasticity in Spinal Motor Networks. It all started there!
• Vergassola et al (2007). 'Infotaxis' as a strategy for searching without gradients. Possibly an algorithm for odor localization in realistic environments.
• Fukson et al (1980). The Spinal Frog Takes into Account the Scheme of Its Body During the Wiping Reflex. Fascinating!

• Cuntz et al (2010) - One Rule to Grow Them All- A General Theory of Neuronal Branching and Its Practical Application. A formalism to synthesize dendritic morphologies.
• Williams et al (2016) - Dendritic trafficking faces fundamental speed-precision tradeoffs. How to produce spatial gradients of channels along dendrites (I guess relevant for axons too).
• Roland et al (2014) - Cannabinoid-induced actomyosin contractility shapes neuronal morphology and growth. Apparently neurons are contractile ?!
• Brachet et al (2010) - Ankyrin G restricts ion channel diffusion at the axonal initial segment before the establishment of the diffusion barrier. Somehow related to the question above.
• Anderson and Mackie (1977) - Electrically coupled, photosensitive neurons control swimming in a jellyfish. Sounds fun!
• Harvey and Bovell (2006) - Spontaneous alternation behavior in Paramecium. Paramecium has short-term memory!
• Araya and Brownell (2015) - The Neuromechanics of Hearing. An intriguing parallel between axon initial segment and electromotility in outer hair cells.
• Park et al (2016) - Neurally Encoding Time for Olfactory Navigation. Odor localization based on timing.
• Apostolides et al (2016) - Axonal Filtering Allows Reliable Output during Dendritic Plateau-Driven Complex Spiking in CA1 Neurons.
• Astman et al (1998) - Activation of Protein Kinase C Increases Neuronal Excitability by Regulating Persistent Na+ Current in Mouse Neocortical Slices. PKC lowers spike threshold (probably via axonal Nav1.6).
• Franceschetti et al (2000) - Protein kinase C-dependent modulation of Na+ currents increases the excitability of rat neocortical pyramidal neurones. Apparently because of a depolarizing shift of Nav inactivation.

• Axelrod (1983). Lateral Motion of Membrane Proteins and Biological Function. On the diffusion of proteins in the membrane (the membrane is fluid).
• Schlaepfer and Wessel (2015). Excitable Membranes and Action Potentials in Paramecia- An Analysis of the Electrophysiology of Ciliates. The journal of undergraduate neuroscience education suggests Paramecium to learn electrophysiology.
• Cembrowski et al (2016). Spatial Gene-Expression Gradients Underlie Prominent Heterogeneity of CA1 Pyramidal Neurons. Cells of the same type are not all the same! (oh no!) (or: “cell type” doesn't really exist)
• Ling (1982) - The cellular resting and action potentials- interpretation based on the association-induction hypothesis. Probably wrong but fascinating: Gilbert Ling (inventor of microelectrode and nominated for Nobel prize in the 1950s) insists that the membrane theory is wrong, membrane polarization is not based on movements of ions and pumps, but on adsorption/desorption of K+ by proteins (ie the intracellular medium is not a solution).
• Zeuthen (1978) - Intracellular gradients of ion activities in the epithelial cells of the Necturus gallbladder recorded with ion-selective microelectrodes. More about the effect of electrical fields inside cells.
• Tomassy et al (2014) - Distinct Profiles of Myelin Distribution Along Single Axons of Pyramidal Neurons in the Neocortex. Puzzling: why are myelinization patterns so weird?
• Ferrante et al (2013) - Functional Impact of Dendritic Branch-Point Morphology. Interesting: the precise way the membrane splits at branch points is electrically important.

• Konur and Ghosh (2005) - Calcium Signaling and the Control of Dendritic Development. How does the dendritic tree get to take the shape it has?
• Ramoino et al (2003) - Swimming behavior regulation by GABAB receptors in Paramecium. Do Paramecium cells chemically inhibit each other?
• Bucci et al (2005) - A role for GABAA receptors in the modulation of Paramecium swimming behavior.
• Fehmi and Bullock (1967) - Discrimination among temporal patterns of stimulation in a computer model of a coelenterate nerve net. Models of nerve nets (decentralized nervous systems).
• Smith and Bullock (1990) - Model nerve net can produce rectilinear, non-diffuse propagation as seen in the skin plexus of sea urchins.
• Nickel (2010) - Evolutionary emergence of synaptic nervous systems- what can we learn from the non-synaptic, nerveless Porifera? Sponges!
• Bullock (1970) - The Reliability of Neurons. Bullock points out that variability is not the same as noise (see my review on the rate vs. spike debate).
• von Bekesy (1964) - Olfactory analog to directional hearing. Binasal smelling, with experiments.
• Eckert and Naitoh (1972) - Bioelectric Control of Locomotion in the Ciliates. Nice review.
• Golowash et al (1999) - Activity-Dependent Regulation of Potassium Currents in an Identified Neuron of the Stomatogastric Ganglion of the Crab Cancer borealis. Yes, neurons learn to spike.

• Berg (1975) - Bacterial behaviour. On the tumble-and-swim behavior of bacteria.
• Purcell (1977) - Life at low Reynolds number. On the physics of bacteria movements.
• Wu et al (2016) - Substantial contribution of extrinsic risk factors to cancer development. Contradicts a previous Science paper claiming that cancer is just due to bad luck (my comment at the time).
• Hodgkin (1939) - The relation between conduction velocity and the electrical resistance outside a nerve fibre. Hodgkin immerges an axon in oil to show that conduction velocity decreases, confirming the idea that the action potential propagates through local current loops involving the extracellular medium.
• Schuetze (1983) - The discovery of the action potential. A pretty good historical paper.
• Bernstein (1868) - Ueber den zeitlichen Verlauf der negativen Schwankung des Nervenstroms. Julius Bernstein describes the first electrophysiological recording of an action potential, using a sample-and-hold device with a galvanometer. 1868!
• Elgeti et al (2014) - Physics of Microswimmers – Single Particle Motion and Collective Behavior. Self-explanatory.
• Tu et al (2008) - Modeling the chemotactic response of Escherichia coli to time-varying stimuli. Self-explanatory.

This week I decided to make a subselection because my lists tend to be quite long!

• Leterrier et al (2015). Nanoscale Architecture of the Axon Initial Segment Reveals an Organized and Robust Scaffold. Self-explanatory!
• Chang and Minc (2014). Electrochemical Control of Cell and Tissue Polarity. Quite fascinating: electricity is also used as an intracellular signal and/or transport mechanism in cells.
• Leys and Mackie (1997). Electrical recording from a glass sponge. Exactly!
• Leys (2015). Elements of a ‘nervous system’ in sponges. Possibly a better place to start than the human brain?
• Adrian and Peachey (1973). Reconstruction of the action potential of frog sartorius muscle. A Hodgkin-Huxley model of the muscle's spike.
• Puthussery et al (2013). NaV1.1 Channels in Axon Initial Segments of Bipolar Cells Augment Input to Magnocellular Visual Pathways in the Primate Retina. Apparently there are spikes in the AIS of (some) bipolar cells.
• Schwarz et al (1995). Action potentials and membrane currents in the human node of Ranvier. Self-explanatory.
• Bialek (2015). Perspectives on theory at the interface of physics and biology. Not read yet, but looks good.
• Dunlap (1977). Localization of calcium channels in Paramecium caudatum. Spikes are initiated in the cilia (and not regenerated in the cell body). Kind of like initiation in axons?
• Holland et al (1997). Control of Phobic Behavioral Responses by Rhodopsin-Induced Photocurrents in Chlamydomonas. Spikes in Chlamydomonas, apparently quite similar to Paramecium.

This week, action potentials (surprising!), in particular in unicellular organisms.

• Mori et al (2006). A Three-Dimensional Model of Cellular Electrical Activity (PhD thesis). Equations for electrodiffusion in 3D (complicated!).
• Rama et al (2015). Presynaptic hyperpolarization induces a fast analogue modulation of spike-evoked transmission mediated by axonal sodium channels. Cool paper from Debanne's lab (funded by our ANR grant!).
• Bhattacharjee et al (2010). A neuron-benign microfluidic gradient generator for studying the response of mammalian neurons towards axon guidance factors. A device to make controlled spatial concentration gradients in a dish.
• Roberts and Mackie (1980). The giant axon escape system of a hydrozoan medusa, Aglantha digitale. Interesting case of a ring-shaped axon of >30 µm.
• Chen et al (2008). Functional properties and differential neuromodulation of Nav1.6 channels. Differences between Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 channels (bottom line: Nav1.6 is good for high-frequency firing).
• Williams and Wozny (2011). Errors in the measurement of voltage-activated ion channels in cell-attached patch-clamp recordings. Not surprising, but still an important methodological point: measuring membrane currents in cell-attached is biased by the depolarization of the cell.
• Slayman et al (1976). “Action potentials” in Neurospora crassa, a mycelial fungus. Action potentials everywhere!
• Kamada (1934). Some Observations on Potential Differences Across the Ectoplasm Membrane of Paramecium. First measurement of resting membrane potential in Paramecium and the dependence on ions (before Hodgkin & Huxley!).
• Young (1936). The structure of nerve fibres in cephalopods and crustacea. “It is important here to notice that [squid giant axons] are not the axons of single cells, but are syncytia produced, in the case of the largest fibres of Loligo, by the fusion of the processes of many hundreds of small cells” (so much for the neuron doctrine!).
• Machemer and Eckert (1973). Electrophysiological Control of Reversed Ciliary Beating in Paramecium. Voltage-clamp study, showing reversal of ciliary beating when depolarization is above a voltage threshold.
• Eckert and Sibaoka (1968). The Flash-Triggering Action Potential of the Luminescent Dinoflagellate Noctiluca. Another unicellular organism, this time the spike triggers a flash of light.
• Febvre-Chevalier et al (1986). Sodium-Calcium Action Potential Associated with Contraction in the Heliozoan Actinocoryne Contractilis. Another unicellular organism with spikes, but this time sodium spikes (rather than calcium spikes in paramecium).
• Kralj et al (2011). Electrical Spiking in Escherichia coli Probed with a Fluorescent Voltage-Indicating Protein. Self-explanatory!
• Masi et al (2015). Electrical spiking in bacterial biofilms. Spikes are really everywhere!
• Ashley and Ridgway (1968). Simultaneous Recording of Membrane Potential, Calcium Transient and Tension in Single Muscle Fibres. The muscular action potential.
• Levin (2014). Molecular bioelectricity - how endogenous voltage potentials control cell behavior and instruct pattern regulation in vivo. Intriguing: intracellular voltage gradients at rest.
• Reid et al (2007). Non-invasive measurement of bioelectric currents with a vibrating probe. To measure extracellular currents around a cell.
• Binggelli and Weinstein (1986). Membrane potentials and sodium channels - Hypotheses for growth regulation and cancer formation based on changes in sodium channels and gap junctions. Shows resting membrane potential is many cell types (not just neurons), and how it differs between mature cells and developing/cancer cells.