Neurodegenerative Disease News and Research

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Viral vectors for gene transfer can travel to distant areas in the brain, study shows

Gene transfer is seen as a hopeful therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. The approach involves using harmless laboratory-produced viruses to introduce important genes into the brain cells.

16 Jun 2017

TSRI scientist and partners receive $7.2 million grant to create new RNA-based treatments for ALS

Professor Matthew Disney of the Department of Chemistry on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute, together with scientists from Mayo Clinic's Florida campus and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, has been awarded $7.2 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of The National Institutes of Health to create new RNA-based treatments for the most common form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as a type of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

15 Jun 2017

USC scientists illuminate impact of early brain-clogging plaques on Alzheimer's disease

Older adults with elevated levels of brain-clogging plaques -- but otherwise normal cognition -- experience faster mental decline suggestive of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study led by the Keck School of Medicine of USC that looked at 10 years of data.

13 Jun 2017

Pyk2 deficits contribute to memory problems in Huntington’s disease mouse model

Researchers from the Institute of Neurosciences of the UB and from IDIBAPS together with a team from the University Pierre and Marie Curie and the Institute du Fer à Moulin, published a study in Nature Communications, which demonstrates that the regulation in Pyk2, a protein-tyrosine kinase, causes alterations of the synaptic plasticity involved in memory tasks, associated with the hippocampus in mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington's.

13 Jun 2017

Study provides new insight into cells that rejuvenate the brain

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease manifested by various neuronal pathological processes and a significant decline in brain function.

9 Jun 2017

New protocol offers faster and more effective way to obtain astrocytes from stem cells

Neurons have long enjoyed the spotlight in neuroscience--and for good reason: they are incredibly important cellular actors. But, increasingly, star-shaped support cells called astrocytes are being seen as more than bit players in the brain's rich pageant.

6 Jun 2017

Studies offer hope for developing new biomarker and drug for neurodegenerative diseases

Two new studies of progressive, neurodegenerative diseases linked to defects in cells' mitochondria offer hope for developing a new biomarker for research and diagnostics, and a drug for treating such diseases, report researchers at the University of California, Davis.

6 Jun 2017

Study underlines significance of microglia for homeostasis in the brain

The role of microglial cells in neurodegenerative disease is not fully understood. But new results from researchers in Munich and Basel suggest that stimulation of this arm of the immune system might well delay the onset of such disorders.

2 Jun 2017

Insilico Medicine launches personalized drug discovery platform to develop new treatments for ALS

Today, Insilico Medicine, Inc., a company applying the latest advances in deep learning to biomarker development, drug discovery and aging research, launched ALS.AI, a personalized drug discovery and biomarker development platform utilizing the latest advances in deep learning.

1 Jun 2017

Brain's immune cells may play roles in neurodegenerative, psychiatric illnesses

Scientists have, for the first time, characterized the molecular markers that make the brain's front lines of immune defense--cells called microglia--unique.

31 May 2017

BGU researchers redesign portion of FDA-approved drug into new molecule to treat ALS

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers are developing a new therapy for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis using part of an existing FDA-approved drug that restores the central nervous system's (CNS) immune defenses and increases life expectancy.

25 May 2017

Study: Abnormal proteins in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases share similar feature

A Loyola University Chicago study has found that abnormal proteins found in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Huntington's disease all share a similar ability to cause damage when they invade brain cells.

23 May 2017

Finding a cure for ALS

ALS is a neurodegenerative disease in which motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. As ALS progresses, neurons are unable to send impulses to muscles, making voluntary muscle movement difficult, including standing, walking and sitting, as well as speaking and swallowing.

22 May 2017

Neurobiologists uncover reason for defects in the blood-brain barrier of Huntington's disease patients

By using induced pluripotent stem cells to create endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the brain for the first time for a neurodegenerative disease, University of California, Irvine neurobiologists and colleagues have learned why Huntington's disease patients have defects in the blood-brain barrier that contribute to the symptoms of this fatal disorder.

17 May 2017

Researchers discover likely cause for visual impairment in Finnish variant of NCL

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland have discovered a likely cause for visual impairment and eventual loss of vision in the Finnish variant of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis.

17 May 2017

Mayo Clinic study provides information on survival and death of patients with synucleinopathies

Faced with a serious disease, patients want to know the answer to a difficult question: "How long will I live?"

16 May 2017

Study unravels new clues to cause and treatment of spinal muscular atrophy

Spinal muscular atrophy, a neurodegenerative disease that causes progressive muscle wasting and paralysis, may be partly due to abnormalities in the synapses that connect sensory neurons and motor neurons, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center.

16 May 2017

Stem cell treatment helps improve motor functions, nervous system conditions in mice with ALS

Researchers at the University of South Florida show in a new study that bone marrow stem cell transplants helped improve motor functions and nervous system conditions in mice with the disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) by repairing damage to the blood-spinal cord barrier.

15 May 2017

Mayo Clinic scientists develop novel nanoparticle to shrink tumors, prevent breast cancer recurrence

A Mayo Clinic research team has developed a new type of cancer-fighting nanoparticle aimed at shrinking breast cancer tumors, while also preventing recurrence of the disease.

2 May 2017

Powerful pain medicine may help reduce vision damage of glaucoma

The tip of our optic nerve is typically the first place injured by glaucoma. Now researchers want to know if the powerful pain medicine (+)-pentazocine can help avoid the damage.