Attenuating the neuronal response to chronic stress through transcription factor aggregation.

How do neurons cope with chronic stress? In a recent study using blind Drosophila models, Shekhar and colleagues uncovered that chronic sensory deprivation induces brain-wide accumulation of aggregates sequestering transcription factors of the Integrated Stress Response (ISR). However, this protective mechanism prevents cells from triggering adapted transcriptional responses upon exogenous stress.