New Software Provides Quick Analysis of ion-Channel Activity
...seases, including cystic fibrosis, as well as some neuromuscular disorders and some cardiac arrythmias. Now, biophy...xample, in people who have some kinds of inherited neuromuscular diseases, an amino acid in the receptors for the neurotransmitter has been altered, he said. These ...American Society Of Gene Therapy To Hold Its First Annual Meeting
...ystic fibrosis and lung diseases, neurological and neuromuscular disorders, andstem cell gene therapy. More than 750 abstracts have been submitted for presentation and aplenary session will present the best eight papers selected. In addition, 18sessions of oral presentations and two large poster sessions ...Tinkertoy Robot Shows How Humans Walk
...r artificial legs and improving rehabilitation for neuromuscular problems. The researchers hope to make the device more stable and sophisticated. Coleman constructed the Tinkertoy device as follows: He stuck two green rod legs, bottomed with rounded yellow feet, into a red crossbar hip, along with several orang...Cops And Docs Find Evidence In The Other DNA
...in mitochondrial DNA with Alzheimer's,Parkinson's, neuromuscular diseases and blindness. As interest peaks in mitochondrial DNA, so has the need for a standard to assureaccuracy in sequencing mitochondrial DNA. Researchers at the National Instituteof Standards and Technology are working on a Standard Reference Mat...Marine Snail Toxin Targeted At African Toad Eggs Reveals Novel Impact On The Regulation Of Serotonin
...ine snail venomrapidly immobilize prey by creating neuromuscular and sensory blockades andstimulating shock, they do not know for certain that this occurs in part as aresult of serotonin inhibition. It is possible, however, that this acontributing factor, said Julius. Researchers from the University of Utah, incl......an elegant approach. They expressed Munc13-1 in neuromuscular synapses of Xenopus frogs. When they measured the characteristics of these synapses, they discovered that these were much more responsive to phorbol esters than control synapses. Our data establish Munc13-1 as a novel presynaptic...Molecular Deficiency Appears To Play Key Role In Muscle Diseases
...s of muscle development,including the formation of neuromuscular and myotendinous junctions." "We believe it is important for the formation and integrity of thesejunctional sites," he said. "It also is found between muscle fibers,where it 'glues' fibers together. This integrin also serves as an adhesiveagent in d...Study Documents Attitudes About Assisted Suicide Among Patients With Lou Gehrig's Disease
...trophic lateralsclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), a neuromuscular disease that causes gradualparalysis, respiratory ...e effect). While A.L.S. gradually robs patients of neuromuscular function, many patients donot experience intense physical pain. "For many of these patients, interes...Scientists Find First Protein In Central Nervous System Junctions
...ied the synapse between nerve cellsand muscle, the neuromuscular junction. One of the synaptic proteins his groupdiscovered links stimulatory receptors to the cellular skeleton. He thereforewanted to explore the role of gephyrin, which appeared to play a correspondingrole in the central nervous system. To ...Molecular Basis Of Leading Genetic Cause Of Infant Death Discovered
...y, the leading genetic cause of infant death. This neuromuscular disease,characterized by the degeneration of motor nerve cells that control the body'sinvoluntary muscles from the head down, originates from defects in the Survivalof Motor Neuron (SMN) gene on chromosome 5. Spinal muscle atrophy is aninherited cond...New Insight Into Genetic Cause Of Infant Mortality
...d with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), an inherited neuromuscular disease that is the most common genetic cause of infant mortality. Now, HHMI investigator Gideon Dreyfuss and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center have found two critical pieces of evidence that support the hypothesis that ...Scientists Show For The First Time How Leprosy Bug Targets Peripheral Nerves
...pathogenic mechanisms involved in leprosy andother neuromuscular diseases, although the origins of these diseases aredifferent," says Rambukkana. Rambukkana's co-authors are Vincent A. Fischetti, Ph.D., professor and head ofthe Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology at Rockefeller, HirokiYamada, M.D.,...Jackson Laboratory Researchers Identify Neuromuscular Degeneration Gene
...ave cloned the gene for themouse mutation known as neuromuscular degeneration, or nmd, an advance thatcould boost r...d in a research paper, "Identification of themouse neuromuscular degeneration gene and mapping of a second site suppressorallele," in the December 1998 issue of the ......ngen/Germany, they expressed theprotein msec7-1 in neuromuscular synapses of Xenopus frogs. msec7-1 is anactivator of members of the Arf-family of small GTPases. Both msec7-1 and Arfsare very prominent regulators of membrane transport in the Golgi apparatus ofall cells in the body. The Göttingen group discove......nt destruction of nerve functioning that resultsin neuromuscular atrophy in cases of trauma or genetic disorders," Strachernoted. Salvi and colleagues set out to determine if leupeptin also couldprotect the sensory hair cells in the ear from noise and ototoxic drugs such ascarboplatin -- knowing that s...Health of normal synapses seen to depend on neurotrophin signaling
...es from atrophy in aging and patients with certain neuromuscular diseases orinjuries. In their experiments, the sci...rotrophin activity in a type of synapse called the neuromuscular junction. They demonstrated that the synapses ofdeveloping and adult mice fall apart in the absence...$16.3M grant will fund program to develop mouse models for neurological research
...urn, a Research Scientist at TJL with expertise in neuromuscular physiology, is supervisor. "This new program is truly ground-breaking. Our hope is that it opens the way for entirely new research approaches in gene discovery directed at understanding, treating, and preventing a wide range of devastating neurologi...UF researchers find painless electrical stimulus helps restore hand movement for stroke patients
...hem will die. Known as electromyography-triggered neuromuscular electrical stimulation, the approach is thought to retrain the brain to control voluntary movements, which often are impeded by a stroke, said James Cauraugh, an associate professor of exercise and sport sciences in UF's College of Health and Human P...... can help develop treatments for kidney, brain and neuromuscular disorders. The detailed view of this protein chann...ervous system, as well as the system that provides neuromuscular control are based on highly selective membrane channels, so to understand how these channels functio......engineering. Her research focuses on modeling the neuromuscular system using robotics. Jaax hometown is Clear Lake City, TX. She hopes to use knowledge of the neuromuscular system to design intelligent medical devices for rehabilitation and sports medicine applications. ...