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.

AFFiRiS receives MJFF grant for clinical study of AFFITOPE PD01

The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) today announced that it has awarded $1.5 million to AFFiRiS AG, a Vienna, Austria-based biotech company, for a clinical study of AFFITOPE PD01, a first-of-its-kind Parkinson's disease (PD) vaccine.

12 Oct 2011

Researchers assess new guidelines for preclinical Alzheimer's disease

Addressing the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease, before a patient shows outward signs of cognitive problems, has sometimes been a challenge for physicians and researchers, in part because they have not been using common and specific terms to describe the disease's initial phases.

11 Oct 2011

New information about effects of aging on the brain

Research by biologists at the University of York and Hull York Medical School has revealed important new information about the way the brain is affected by age.

11 Oct 2011

High prevalence of NTDs in Central Asia after 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union

The open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases will publish an article emphasizing the rising burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in Central Asia on Tuesday, Sept. 27th.

28 Sep 2011

CoPlex, Hawthorn sign license agreement for hawAD14 Alzheimer's drug

CoPlex Therapeutics has signed an exclusive global license agreement with Hawthorn Pharmaceuticals to develop and commercialize hawAD14, a preclinical oral small molecule candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

23 Sep 2011

Researchers’ discovery may revolutionize treatment of Lou Gehrig’s disease

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have found a key link between prions and the neurodegenerative disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery is significant as it opens the door to novel approaches to the treatment of ALS.

20 Sep 2011

NeuroVive, Selcia sign research collaboration agreement to develop new mitochondrial drugs

UK-based contract research organisation Selcia Limited and Swedish drug development company NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB have signed a significant research collaboration agreement to develop new medicines and drug compounds targeting mitochondrial physiology and pathophysiology.

19 Sep 2011

Anavex Life Sciences to present data on lead compound for Alzheimer’s at Japan Neuroscience Society

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. will present the most recent data showing the therapeutic potential of ANAVEX compounds in animal models of Alzheimer’s disease at a special symposium of the 34th annual meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society. The symposium is being held in Yokohama, Japan from September 15-17, 2011.

15 Sep 2011

Sanford-Burnham and Scripps Health enter joint translational medicine effort

Scripps Health and Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have formed a collaboration to bridge the gap between laboratory scientists uncovering new approaches for treating cancer and the physicians caring for patients with cancer.

14 Sep 2011

Clinical trial planned in Australia and the USA to help patients with ‘orphan’ disease

Prana Biotechnology Limited announced today that researchers are planning recruitment for a phase II clinical trial of the experimental drug PBT2 in Huntington’s patients. There are currently no treatments for the genetic, neurodegenerative disease; Australia is increasingly seen as a leader in the development of therapies for neurologic disorders. Huntington’s often affects young adults and progressively impacts the body, mind and emotions. The disease causes incapacitation and death about 15-25 years after onset.

12 Sep 2011

Researchers discover mechanism of low-dose LDN on cell proliferative-related disorders

Researchers at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania have discovered the mechanism by which a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN), an agent used clinically to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, exerts a profound inhibitory effect on cell proliferation.

3 Sep 2011

New insights into Lafora disease

Short-term energy storage in animal cells is usually achieved through the accumulation of glucose, in the form of long and branched chains, known as glycogen. But when this accumulation happens in neurons it is fatal, causing them to degenerate. This neuronal deterioration and death associated with glycogen accumulation is the hallmark of an extremely rare and progressive type of epilepsy known as Lafora disease (LD).

29 Aug 2011

Cellular pathology of Lou Gehrig’s disease discovered

Researchers claim to have found a common cause behind the mysterious and deadly affliction of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery could pave the way to new treatments for the devastating disorder whose victims include top physicist Professor Stephen Hawking.

22 Aug 2011

LYSOGENE launches the first gene therapy clinical trials in Sanfilippo disease

LYSOGENE announces the authorization by AFSSAPS (the French Agency for the Safety of Health Products) and by the Ethical Review Board of SAF-301, its leading intra-cerebral gene therapy phase I/II clinical trial aiming at treating Sanfilippo Type A Syndrome.

16 Aug 2011

Modified Cdk5 enzyme triggers damage to nerve cell connections in human Alzheimer's brains

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by abnormal proteins that stick together in little globs, disrupting cognitive function. These sticky proteins are mostly made up of beta-amyloid peptide. A better understanding of these proteins, how they form, and how they affect brain function will no doubt improve the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

16 Aug 2011

New pathway for type 2 diabetes

Newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics tend to have one thing in common: obesity. Exactly how diet and obesity trigger diabetes has long been the subject of intense scientific research.

16 Aug 2011

Human brain cells created from skin cells: Potential for Alzheimer’s

This feat comes a year after researchers at Stanford University performed the same feat in mice, turning cells from the rodents' skin into neurons. The lab-created brain cells act the same as normal human brain cells, the researchers found. These cells have the same ability to send electric signals; they seem to express the same genes in the same ways; and they are able to communicate with other brain cells, as demonstrated in a lab dish and when implanted into mice.

5 Aug 2011

Control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases can help treat HIV/AIDS

There is a growing body of evidence revealing the connection between neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and HIV/AIDS, prompting experts to call for greater integration of national NTD treatment programs with HIV/AIDS initiatives.

28 Jul 2011

Study reveals several compounds that block cancer cell invasion

Metastasis-the spread of cancer from the place where it first started to another place in the body-is the most common reason that cancer treatments fail. To metastasize, some types of cancer cells rely on invadopodia, cellular membrane projections that act like feet, helping them "walk" away from the primary tumor and invade surrounding tissues.

27 Jul 2011

All football players do not get chronic traumatic encephalopathy

Preliminary results from the first four brains donated to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, TorontoWesternHospital, reveal that two of the four former Canadian Football League (CFL) players suffered from a brain disease known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), while two did not show signs of CTE.

27 Jul 2011