Wnt and lithium: a common destiny in the therapy of nervous system pathologies?

Wnt signaling is required for neurogenesis, the fate of neural progenitors, the formation of neuronal circuits during development, neuron positioning and polarization, axon and dendrite development and finally for synaptogenesis. This signaling pathway is also implicated in the generation and differentiation of glial cells. In this review, we describe the mechanisms of action of Wnt signaling pathways and their implication in the development and correct functioning of the nervous system. We also illustrate how a dysregulated Wnt pathway could lead to psychiatric, neurodegenerative and demyelinating pathologies. Lithium, used for the treatment of bipolar disease, inhibits GSK3β, a central enzyme of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Thus, lithium could, to some extent, mimic Wnt pathway. We highlight the possible dialogue between lithium therapy and modulation of Wnt pathway in the treatment of the diseases of the nervous system.     

Optimally Connected Hybrid Complex Networks with Windmill Graphs Backbone

The significance of the existing analysis methods in complex networks and easy access to the ever-increasing volume of information present the emergence of proposing new methods in various fields based on complex system ideas. However, these systems are usually faced with various random failures and intelligent attacks. Due to the nature of the components' behaviors, the occurrence of the failures and faults in their operations and the alteration of their topologies are the most important problems. Since the complex systems are usually used as the infrastructures of other networks, their robustness against failures and the adoption of suitable precautions are necessary. Moreover, the smallworld effect in most complex systems is one of the crucial structural features. The authors found that the relation between these two is not well-known and may even be in conflict in some networks. The main goal in this paper is to achieve an optimal topology by utilizing a robustness-oriented multiobjective trade-off optimization model(edge rewiring) to establish a peaceful relationship between the two requirements. By offering a proposed rewiring method with the small-world effect, which is called core-periphery Windmill property, the authors demonstrated that the generated networks are able to exhibit appropriate robustness even during intelligent attacks. The results obtained in terms of Windmill graphs are presented very good approximations to demonstrate the small-world effect. These graphs are used as the initial core in the construction of the optimized networks' topologies.