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.

Scientists uncover mechanism behind 'tubulin code'

Driving down the highway, you encounter ever-changing signs -- speed limits, exits, food and gas options. Seeing these roadside markers may cause you to slow down, change lanes or start thinking about lunch. In a similar way, cellular structures called microtubules are tagged with a variety of chemical markers that can influence cell functions.

13 May 2015

Ground-breaking study characterizes early-stage Alzheimer's abnormalities in the intact brain

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition that strikes at the heart of what makes us human: the ability to think, to feel, to remember and to communicate with those around us. The tragedy is compounded by the fact that there is currently no cure, no treatment, and no diagnostic method capable of identifying Alzheimer's at its early stages.

6 May 2015

Green tea compound, voluntary exercise slow Alzheimer's disease progression in mice

According to the National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer's disease (AD) may affect as many as 5.5 million Americans. Scientists currently are seeking treatments and therapies found in common foods that will help stave off the disease or prevent it completely.

5 May 2015

Dr. Mike O. Karl awarded EYEnovative Research Award for retina research

Dr. Mike O. Karl, group leader at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and the DFG Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden - Cluster of Excellence at the TU Dresden, was awarded the “EYEnovative Förderpreis” of the Novartis Pharma GmbH already for the second time.

25 Apr 2015

CorTechs Labs, Novartis partner to advance clinical care, assessment of multiple sclerosis worldwide

CorTechs Labs, the leading medical software innovator providing solutions for quantitative brain volume analysis is pleased to announce a partnership agreement with Novartis Pharma AG, a global pharmaceutical company.

21 Apr 2015

Inflammation plays causal role in neurologic changes associated with Lyme disease

About 15% of patients with Lyme disease develop peripheral and central nervous system involvement, often accompanied by debilitating and painful symptoms. New research indicates that inflammation plays a causal role in the array of neurologic changes associated with Lyme disease, according to a study published in The American Journal of Pathology.

17 Apr 2015

SGK1 enzyme protects brain cells in animal models of Parkinson's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have found how a widely known but little-studied enzyme protects brain cells in models of Parkinson's disease.

16 Apr 2015

Winners of GSA poster awards announced at 56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference

The Genetics Society of America (GSA) and the Drosophila research community are pleased to announce the winners of the GSA poster awards at the 56th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, which took place in Chicago, IL, March 4-8, 2015.

10 Apr 2015

Sanford-Burnham, Daiichi Sankyo sign licensing agreement to expand development of small molecule

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute today announced that it has signed a licensing agreement to further develop a first-in-class small molecule with Daiichi Sankyo for the treatment of cardiovascular-metabolic disease.

6 Apr 2015

Peripheral inflammatory cells play role in Parkinson's disease

A small area in the midbrain known as the substantia nigra is the control center for all bodily movement. Increasing loss of dopamine-generating neurons in this part of the brain therefore leads to the main symptoms of Parkinson's disease - slowness of movement, rigidity and shaking.

3 Apr 2015

Compact MRI and multimodality: an interview with Bernard Siow, UCL

CABI is a preclinical imaging laboratory where we have about ten modalities. We started off with MRI and we have a 9.4T high-field system.

From Bruker BioSpin - NMR, EPR and Imaging 30 Mar 2015

UCLA-led team validates first standardized protocol for tracking early signs of Alzheimer's disease

After six years of painstaking research, a UCLA-led team has validated the first standardized protocol for measuring one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease -- the atrophy of the part of the brain known as the hippocampus.

26 Mar 2015

Using the butterfly effect to predict heart disease: an interview with Dr George and Dr Parthimos, Cardiff University

The emergence of the butterfly effect in many physical events reveals two fundamental laws that underpin all nonlinear systems. The first principle is known as determinism, which means that the evolution of an event can be followed accurately in the future, as long as we know its precise starting point and the rules of how a situation can change with time.

23 Mar 2015

Study: Listening to classical music improves activity of genes involved in brain functions

Although listening to music is common in all societies, the biological determinants of listening to music are largely unknown. According to a latest study, listening to classical music enhanced the activity of genes involved in dopamine secretion and transport, synaptic neurotransmission, learning and memory, and down-regulated the genes mediating neurodegeneration.

13 Mar 2015

Researchers take important step in repairing the cerebral cortex of adult mouse

A team led by Afsaneh Gaillard (Inserm Unit 1084, Experimental and Clinical Neurosciences Laboratory, University of Poitiers), in collaboration with the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research in Human and Molecular Biology (IRIBHM) in Brussels, has just taken an important step in the area of cell therapy: repairing the cerebral cortex of the adult mouse using a graft of cortical neurons derived from embryonic stem cells.

12 Mar 2015

New study shows how presenilin gene mutations may lead to familial Alzheimer's disease

Mutations in the presenilin-1 gene are the most common cause of inherited, early-onset forms of Alzheimer's disease. In a new study, published in Neuron, scientists replaced the normal mouse presenilin-1 gene with Alzheimer's-causing forms of the human gene to discover how these genetic changes may lead to the disorder.

12 Mar 2015

Sanford-Burnham researchers discover control mechanism for glutamine uptake in breast cancer cells

Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute have discovered a mechanism that explains why some breast cancer tumors respond to specific chemotherapies and others do not. The findings highlight the level of glutamine, an essential nutrient for cancer development, as a determinant of breast cancer response to select anticancer therapies, and identify a marker associated with glutamine uptake, for potential prognosis and stratification of breast cancer therapy.

11 Mar 2015

Finding appears to support the hypothesis that Alzheimer's is an autoimmune disease

Brain levels of the lipid ceramide are high in Alzheimer's disease, and now scientists have found increased levels of an antibody to the lipid in their disease model.

10 Mar 2015

Study shows how mutations that cause Alzheimer's disease lead to neurodegeneration, dementia

A study from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital reveals for the first time exactly how mutations associated with the most common form of inherited Alzheimer's disease produce the disorder's devastating effects.

5 Mar 2015

USciences recognizes Adeboye Adejare with 2015 Founders' Day Faculty Award of Merit

University of the Sciences proudly recognized pharmaceutical sciences professor Adeboye Adejare, PhD, with the 2015 Founders' Day Faculty Award of Merit during the University's 194th Founders' Day Ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 19.

4 Mar 2015