Neurodegenerative Diseases News and Research

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Key molecule of vascular system directs axons during neural circuit formation

Dr. Fr-d-ric Charron, researcher at the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montr-al (IRCM), and his team have shown for the first time that a key molecule of the vascular system directs axons during the formation of neural circuits.

9 Jun 2011

Researchers identify 'epigenetic fingerprints' of healthy volunteers, patients with common diseases

Until a decade, it was believed that differences between people were due solely to the existence of genetic changes, which are alterations in the sequence of our genes. The discoveries made during these last ten years show that beings with the same genetics like the twins and cloned animals may have different characteristics and disease due to epigenetic changes.

4 Jun 2011

Research in progress for novel protein kinase inhibitors: GEN

Biotech scientists are working on novel protein kinase inhibitors that are targeting a host of conditions ranging from atherosclerosis to neurodegenerative diseases, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.

4 Jun 2011

Scientists uncover new therapeutic target that could prevent stress-related cell death

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have uncovered a potentially important new therapeutic target that could prevent stress-related cell death, a characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, as well as heart attack and stroke.

3 Jun 2011

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid holds promise against familial frontotemporal dementia

A drug already approved for people with cancer shows early potential as a therapy for a common form of dementia, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

1 Jun 2011

Molecular mechanism of selected autophagy elucidated

Salmonella is widely prevalent in the animal kingdom. The reason we do not suffer from severe intestinal infections very often is due to our body's defence system, which manages to digest invading bacteria. This is why, generally speaking, a healthy human being will only fall ill if he consumes more than 100.000 salmonella bacteria via a contaminated food source, such as eggs or meat.

27 May 2011

Researchers find mechanism of action for cancer-killing peptides

Researchers from Aalto University have found the mechanism of action for cancer-cell-killing peptides. This breakthrough is expected to lead to better medication, in particular better treatments for leukemia, skin cancer, and infections caused by multi-resistant bacteria.

27 May 2011

Elan, Proteostasis create innovative drug discovery initiative for neurodegenerative disorders

Proteostasis Therapeutics and Elan Corporation today announced a strategic business relationship to advance Proteostasis' platform for the discovery and development of disease-modifying, small molecule drugs and diagnostics for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and a broad array of dementia-related diseases including Alzheimer's.

25 May 2011

New data on why aging brain is less resilient and less capable of learning from life experiences

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have published new data on why the aging brain is less resilient and less capable of learning from life experiences. The findings provide further insight into the cognitive decline associated with aging and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. The study is published in the May 25 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

25 May 2011

Provepharm obtains European marketing authorization for its Methylthioninium Chloride Proveblue

Provepharm, a biotech start-up specialized in the development of pharmaceutical applications, announces today that it has just received official marketing authorization for its Methylthioninium Chloride Proveblue from the European Medicines Agency. This authorization means that clinicians will be able to treat European patients for the first time with this injectable drug based on the active principal methylthioninium chloride Proveblue (TM) (or methylene blue), which embodies the quality and safety characteristics currently required of a pharmaceutical product.

24 May 2011

'Survival protein' protects brain against effects of stroke

Johns Hopkins scientists say that a newly discovered "survival protein" protects the brain against the effects of stroke in rodent brain tissue by interfering with a particular kind of cell death that's also implicated in complications from diabetes and heart attack.

24 May 2011

Discovery of possible new strategy for treating neurologic disorders

23 May 2011

Wills Eye Institute and Thomas Jefferson University create new vision research center

A new vision research center based in Philadelphia will foster regional, national and global collaborations among a diverse group of exceptional clinicians and researchers working to better diagnose, treat and prevent visual diseases.

21 May 2011

Multiple toxic mechanisms link elevated iron, copper levels in the brain and extensive DNA damage

No one knows the cause of most cases of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative disorders. But researchers have found that certain factors are consistently associated with these debilitating conditions.

21 May 2011

Goat milk has nutritional characteristics beneficial to human health

Researchers at the University of Granada have found that goat milk has nutritional characteristics beneficial to health. They have determined that goat milk has many nutrients that make it similar to human milk.

19 May 2011

Researchers uncover unexpected role of estrogen receptors in brain inflammation

Researchers have uncovered an unexpected role for estrogen receptors in the brain in keeping inflammation under control. The findings reported in the May 13 issue of the Cell Press journal Cell may have important implications for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) and many other neurodegenerative diseases.

13 May 2011

UCSD scientists discover steroid hormone that inhibits brain inflammation

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered a steroid hormone that inhibits inflammation in the brain. The findings, to be published in the May 13 issue of the journal Cell, have implications for understanding the exaggerated inflammatory responses that are characteristic features of numerous neurodegenerative diseases.

13 May 2011

Scientists decipher genome of tropical marine organism

An international team of researchers led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has deciphered the genome of a tropical marine organism known to produce substances potentially useful against human diseases.

10 May 2011

New technique can reveal fat distribution in healthy human brain

Mapping the fat distribution of the healthy human brain is a key step in understanding neurological diseases, in general, and the neurodegeneration that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in particular. Antonio Veloso and colleagues, from the University of the Basque Country in Leioa, Spain, find a new technique to reveal the fat distribution of three different areas of the healthy human brain.

5 May 2011

Scientists identify biochemical abnormality behind Machado-Joseph disease

Scientists in Portugal have identified a biochemical abnormality behind the potentially fatal neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease and using several models of the disease were able to reverse the problem in what can be a crucial step towards a cure for humans .

2 May 2011