Neurodegeneration News and Research

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Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons.

Measuring specific proteins in blood samples may help track progression of dementias

Reliable information can be obtained on the progression of dementias by measuring specific proteins in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid. A test of this kind is especially significant to the development of new therapies, as reported in the journal Neuron by scientists from the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel, along with international colleagues.

10 Jun 2016

NMNAT2 enzyme may help protect against debilitating effects of neurodegenerative disorders

A study led by biomedical researchers at Indiana University has found evidence that an enzyme known as NMNAT2 may help protect against the debilitating effects of certain degenerative brain diseases, including Alzheimer's.

3 Jun 2016

New dietary supplement can prevent, reverse massive brain cell loss

A dietary supplement containing a blend of thirty vitamins and minerals--all natural ingredients widely available in health food stores--has shown remarkable anti-aging properties that can prevent and even reverse massive brain cell loss, according to new research from McMaster University.

3 Jun 2016

New player in calcium signalling pathways acts as molecular brake to Orai activation

Information flow in cells relies on calcium as a key agent in several signalling pathways. Calcium dependent signalling is crucial in nearly every aspect of life - muscle movement, immune reactions, nerve function, light sensing and many such processes.

28 May 2016

Research sheds new light on biological processes underlying neurodegeneration in AD

Progranulin is a central protein in both neuronal survival and neurodegenerative diseases. It is thus not surprising that altered progranulin levels represent a universal theme shared across several common neurodegenerative diseases.

26 May 2016

SBP scientists discover new regulator of immune responses

Research led by scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has identified a new regulator of immune responses. The study, published recently in Immunity, sheds new light on why T cells fail to clear chronic infections and eliminate tumors.

26 May 2016

PET imaging with PiB may help in early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

The effort to find ways to detect and diagnose preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) has taken a big step forward with the use of positron emission tomography (PET), a "nuclear medicine" for imaging processes in the body, when PET is used with a special 'tracer' that binds to the amyloid plaques in the brain that are a characteristic cause of AD.

25 May 2016

New Spherical Brain Mapping for dementia diagnosis

Diagnosis, treatment and care of dementia is one of the major concerns in neurology research and associated healthcare programs. Dementia affects older age groups with a greater frequency, and as our population ages, the burden of dementia on public health is rapidly increasing.

23 May 2016

Malicious form of ATF2 protein drives formation of melanoma

An international collaborative study led by scientists at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has identified a malicious form of a protein that drives the formation of melanoma.

20 May 2016

Coprophagia linked to neurodegenerative dementia

Coprophagia, eating one's feces, is common in animals but rarely seen in humans. Mayo Clinic researchers reviewed the cases of a dozen adult patients diagnosed with coprophagia over the past 20 years and found that the behavior is associated with a wide range of neuropsychiatric disorders, particularly neurodegenerative dementias.

20 May 2016

Exercise may help reduce toxicity caused by glutamate build-up in the brain

In a new study published today in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, scientists from the University of Guelph have found that exercise has the potential to decrease toxic build-up in the brain, reducing the severity of brain disorders such as Huntington's disease.

17 May 2016

New way of understanding neurodegeneration may lead to novel treatments

University of Adelaide researchers have developed a new theory for the causes of dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, involving an out-of-control immune system.

13 May 2016

LaVision BioTec reports on use of light sheet and 2-photon microscopy for brain injury research

LaVision BioTec, developers of advanced microscopy solutions for the life sciences, report on the work of Ali Ertürk, a Group Leader at the Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (part of the Klinikum der Universität München) at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany.

12 May 2016

Genetic variations that increase PKC alpha activity may influence development of Alzheimer's disease

In Alzheimer's disease, plaques of amyloid beta protein accumulate in the brain, damaging connections between neurons.

11 May 2016

EvOx Therapeutics raises £10m to target new therapeutic system for untreatable diseases

Oxford spinout EvOx Therapeutics will harness the body’s own precision communications system to deliver drugs to specific parts of the body, with the aim of treating conditions which are currently untreatable including those affecting the brain, as well as autoimmune diseases and cancers.

11 May 2016

Oral administration of Jakinibs reduces Parkinson's disease pathogenesis in rat model

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers report the first documentation that suppressing a key cell-signaling pathway in a rat model of Parkinson's disease reduces pathogenesis. Oral administration of AZD1480 — one of the JAK/STAT pathway inhibitors generally known as Jakinibs — lessened the destructive inflammation and nerve cell degradation in the area of the brain affected by Parkinson's.

4 May 2016

Rapamycin drug could target neural damage linked to Leigh syndrome

Salk Institute scientists showed how an FDA-approved drug boosts the health of brain cells by limiting their energy use. Like removing unnecessary lighting from a financially strapped household to save on electricity bills, the drug--called rapamycin--prolongs the survival of diseased neurons by forcing them to reduce protein production to conserve cellular energy.

27 Apr 2016

University of Leicester-led study finds way to reverse symptoms of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

A five-year study by an international team led from the University of Leicester has found a way of ‘reversing’ symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s – using fruit flies as test subjects.

26 Apr 2016

Abnormally active Rab5 protein leads to early development of neurodegenerative disease

Writing in the April 11 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say abnormalities in a protein that helps transport and sort materials inside cells are linked to axonal dysfunction and degeneration of neurons in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Down syndrome (DS).

12 Apr 2016

Rockefeller scientists study molecular mechanism that causes linker cell death in worms

Some cells are meant to live, and some are meant to die. The linker cell of Caenorhabditis elegans, a tiny worm that is a favored model organism for biologists, is among those destined for termination.

11 Apr 2016