Neurodegenerative Diseases News and Research

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Universitat Jaume I evaluates ruthenium compounds for neurodegenerative disease treatment

The pharmaceutical division of the company Neuron BPh and the research group of Organometallic Chemistry and Homogeneous Catalysis of the Universitat Jaume I, have evaluated the possible applications of a series of ruthenium compounds for their future use in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer.

30 Sep 2010

COE on Brain Aging at NYU Langone establishes Lewy Body Disease Center

The Center of Excellence (COE) on Brain Aging at NYU Langone Medical Center has established a specialty center for the diagnosis and treatment of Lewy Body Disease, a multi-system disease involving disturbances of cognition, behavior, sleep and autonomic function. Lewy Body Disease, or LBD, affects an estimated 1.3 million individuals in the United States and is widely misdiagnosed because LBD symptoms closely resemble those of other more commonly known diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

30 Sep 2010

NINDS establishes new sites as part of Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, has established two new sites as part of the Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research. The NINDS grants will provide a five-year investment totaling more than $16 million for Emory University in Atlanta and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.

29 Sep 2010

Scientists to develop methotrexate nose drops for brain cancer

Scientists are reporting the development and successful initial testing of a new form of methotrexate the mainstay anticancer drug designed to be given as nose drops rather than injected. It shows promise as a more effective treatment for brain cancer, they say. The report appears in ACS' Molecular Pharmaceutics, a bi-monthly journal.

23 Sep 2010

Brain wolfs energy even to stop thinking

Ever wonder why it's such an effort to forget about work while on vacation or to silence that annoying song that's playing over and over in your head?

21 Sep 2010

ASM awards UTHealth student 3-year, $33,000 fellowship for study of molecular details of protein folding in cells

Jennifer Abrams, a graduate student at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), has been awarded a three-year, $33,000 fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) to support her innovative research into the molecular causes of protein misfolding diseases like Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's and Parkinson's.

21 Sep 2010

Cell quality control mechanism research paves way for new understanding of neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have solved a long-standing mystery of how cells conduct "quality control" to eliminate the toxic effects of a certain kind of error in protein production. The findings may lead to a better understanding of a host of neurodegenerative diseases.

13 Sep 2010

Researchers find amyloid precursor protein function in Alzheimer's disease

In people with Alzheimer's, the brain becomes riddled with clumps of protein, forming what are known as amyloid plaques. Now, a report appearing in the September 17th print issue of Cell appears to have found a function for the amyloid precursor protein that yields the prime ingredient in those plaques.

13 Sep 2010

Highlights of 23rd Congress of European College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2010

More than 7,000 psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists and neuroscience researchers from all over the world met at the 23rd Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) from 28 August to 1 September 2010 in Amsterdam.

10 Sep 2010

Noscira receives FDA approval for Tideglusib drug to treat PSP

Noscira, a Grupo Zeltia subsidiary specialized in research and development of drugs to treat neurodegenerative diseases, has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track status to its neuroprotector drug Tideglusib (ZentylorTM) to treat Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), a fast-advancing fatal degenerative brain disorder.

10 Sep 2010

Researchers find minocycline antibiotics effective for fragile X syndrome

One of the antibiotics most commonly prescribed to treat adolescent acne can increase attention spans and communication and decrease anxiety in patients with fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental impairment, according to a new survey study that is the first published on parents' reports of their children's responses to treatment with the medication.

9 Sep 2010

Yeast can be simple model to study molecular basis of Parkinson’s disease

Yeast could be a powerful ally in the discovery of new therapeutic drugs to treat Parkinson's disease says a scientist presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today.

8 Sep 2010

Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission partners with NIH, NIST to host symposium on stem cell research

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission will host the Third Annual Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium in partnership with the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010.

4 Sep 2010

Motor proteins play critical role in stabilization of long-term memories

Functioning much like gears in a machine, cellular motor proteins are critical to dynamic functions throughout the body, including muscle contraction, cell migration and cellular growth processes. Now, neuroscientists from UC Irvine and the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute report that motor proteins also play a critical role in the stabilization of long-term memories. The findings add an unexpected dimension to the story of how memories are encoded and suggest new targets for therapeutic interventions.

26 Aug 2010

Alpha-synuclein gene silencing effective for treating neurodegenerative disorders: Research

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and collaborators at The Parkinson's Institute and the Mayo Clinic have published new research findings in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS). The new data show effective silencing of the alpha-synuclein gene with an RNAi therapeutic administered directly to the substantia nigra in the CNS of non-human primates.

24 Aug 2010

Muscular Dystrophy Association awards $14.1M in new grants

The Muscular Dystrophy Association, which has invested almost $39 million in 2010 in worldwide research seeking treatments and cures for muscle diseases, today announced that it has awarded $14.1 million in new grants.

20 Aug 2010

MDA awards $14.1 million in new grants to advance treatments and cures for muscle diseases

18 Aug 2010

Cortex second-quarter net loss decreases to $0.04 per share

Cortex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported a net loss applicable to common stock of approximately $2,454,000, or $0.04 per share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, compared with a net loss applicable to common stock of approximately $2,778,000, or $0.06 per share, for the corresponding prior year period.

16 Aug 2010

Researchers identify second type of complete sporadic disease

A new sporadic prion protein disease has been discovered. Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy, as it has been named, is the second type of complete sporadic disease to be identified since Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease was reported in the 1920s. The landmark finding from the National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center at Case Western Reserve University is published in the August issue of Annals of Neurology.

13 Aug 2010

Common soluble proteins become insoluble and form aggregates while aging: Study

In neurodegenerative diseases, clumps of insoluble proteins appear in patients' brains. These aggregates contain proteins that are unique to each disease, such as amyloid beta in Alzheimer's disease, but they are intertwined with small amounts of many other insoluble proteins that are normally present in a soluble form in healthy young individuals. For years, these other proteins were thought to be accidental inclusions in the aggregates, much as a sea turtle might be caught in a net of fish.Now, in a surprising new finding, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, report that many of the proteins present as minor components of disease aggregates actually clump together as a normal part of aging in healthy individuals.

11 Aug 2010