Methods in Molecular Neuroscience

Progress in molecular neuroscience depends as much on the questions we ask as on the tools we have to answer them. Over the past decade, the field has gained access to a remarkable set of methods that allow researchers to probe brain function with cellular and molecular precision, across systems ranging from invertebrates to brain organoids and human induced pluripotent stem cells. Genetic engineering, optogenetics and chemogenetics, advanced imaging, biosensors, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, behavioral assays, and bioinformatics now form the methodological backbone of work across the entire spectrum of molecular neuroscience, from basic signaling pathways to disease mechanisms, plasticity, and pain.The continued development and refinement of these methods is essential to keep pace with the complexity of the nervous system. Equally important is the careful application of established methods to new biological questions, the validation of model systems for specific research contexts, and the development of analytical pipelines that allow rigorous interpretation of increasingly large and multidimensional datasets. Sharing detailed protocols, reagents, and benchmarks accelerates discovery and supports reproducibility across laboratories.This Research Topic aims to bring together methodological advances and applications relevant to molecular neuroscience in its broadest sense. It welcomes contributions that introduce new techniques, improve or adapt existing ones, validate novel model systems, or demonstrate the use of established methods to address questions in molecular signaling, neuroplasticity and development, brain disease mechanisms, and pain. Studies that promote rigor, transparency, and reproducibility in molecular neuroscience are particularly encouraged. We welcome contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Genetic engineering tools, including CRISPR-based approaches, site-specific recombinases, and epigenetic editingo Optogenetic and chemogenetic strategies for manipulating neural circuits and signaling pathwayso Imaging methods, including super-resolution, live-cell, and intravital approacheso Genetically encoded biosensors and probes for monitoring molecular activity in neurons and gliao Single-cell, spatial, and bulk transcriptomic, proteomic, and interactomic approaches applied to neural tissue, including biochemical characterization of macromolecular complexeso Multiomics and bioinformatic pipelines for integrative analysis of neural datasets, including spatial multiomics for mapping and localization of moleculeso Chemical biology and pharmacological tools for dissecting brain signaling pathwayso Autoantibody detection platforms, single-cell neuroimmune profiling, and multiplex immune assays for dissecting neuroimmune mechanismso Ultrasensitive liquid biopsy methodologies for identifying molecular biomarkers of neuropathological disorderso Behavioral assays for assessing cognition, plasticity, disease phenotypes, and paino Vertebrate and invertebrate animal models, brain organoids, and iPSC-based systemso Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches to investigate gut-brain interactions at the molecular levelo AI/ML, machine learning, deep learning, network analysis, and computational neuroscience approaches for large-scale molecular datasetsTopic Editor Brian Chen is the founder of Geneboost Technologies, Inc. and holds patents related to the Research Topic subject. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject Topic editors: Jishi Ye, Rekha K N, Brian Chen Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82777/methods-in-molecular-neuroscience