News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
...owed elevated reactive oxygen species, age-related neurodegeneration in the striatum, reduced striatal dopamine levels, and a corresponding decrease in locomotor behavior. By 18 months, VMAT2 LO mice had lower striatal tyrosine hydroxylase due to loss of DA neurons, and substantia nigral neurons contained levels of a-...Cancer drug enhances long-term memory
... fascinating that it can impact memory, cancer and neurodegeneration and potentially other conditions such as drug add...ory. When CBP is blocked in humans, it can lead to neurodegeneration associated with Huntingtons disease and cognitive deficits in Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome. HDAC inhibi...Salk researchers discover first gene that specifically links calorie restriction to longevity
...diovascular disease, while staving off age-related neurodegeneration in laboratory animals from mice to monkeys. Although some people are already imposing this strict regimen upon themselves, it is too early tell whether calorie restriction will have the same effect in humans. ...Enhanced environment restores memory in mice with neurodegeneration
...e brains had lost a large number of neurons due to neurodegeneration regained long-term memories and the ability to lea...r mice. Their experiments showed that animals with neurodegeneration due to p25 activation had significant gains in learning and memory when they were exposed to this en...Study shows metabolic strategy of stressed cell
...ain disorder called pantothenate-kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN). PKAN is a hereditary disorder caused by mutations in PanK that may lead to a deficiency of CoA in brain mitochondria. Previously, this group of St. Jude researchers showed how specific mutations in one form of PanK disable this enzyme, which ...Protein sensor for fatty acid buildup in mitochondria
...n the PANK2 gene that give rise to PanK-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), an inherited disease in which patients have intellectual impairment and difficulty in walking and speaking. "The new understanding of PanK2 activity and its location in the cell suggests a potential treatment strategy for PKAN," said Rober...JCI table of contents: Feb. 1, 2007
...d=31288 NEUROBIOLOGY: Stress response prevents neurodegeneration Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating immune-mediated disease of the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system [CNS]). It is characterized by infiltration of the CNS by inflammatory cells and destruction of cells that reside in the CNS,...JCI table of contents: December 14, 2006
...ved. However, whether this oxidative damage causes neurodegeneration or is a consequence of it has not been previously ... that oxidative damage is a factor contributing to neurodegeneration in a Drosophila model of neurodegenerative disorders such as AD. Mel Feany and colleagues from Bri...Antioxidants decrease disease in a Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease
...ved. However, whether this oxidative damage causes neurodegeneration or is a consequence of it has not been previously ... that oxidative damage is a factor contributing to neurodegeneration in a Drosophila model of neurodegenerative disorders such as AD. Mel Feany and colleagues from Bri...Decreased TGF-beta signaling might make you demented
...ed in the neurons of patients with AD -- increases neurodegeneration in mice. Tony Wyss-Coray and colleagues found tha...eased. Analysis of these mice showed age-dependent neurodegeneration and beta-amyloid peptide accumulation in the brain, as is seen in the brain of patients with AD. The...JCI table of contents: Nov. 1, 2006
...ed in the neurons of patients with AD -- increases neurodegeneration in mice. Tony Wyss-Coray and colleagues found tha...eased. Analysis of these mice showed age-dependent neurodegeneration and beta-amyloid peptide accumulation in the brain, as is seen in the brain of patients with AD. The...Metabolic disorder underlies Huntington's disease
...iatum, the brain's "movement control" region. That neurodegeneration leads to the uncontrollable "dance-like" movements characteristic of the fatal, genetic disorder. The findings may help to explain other symptoms of the disease, including weight loss, and could point to new avenues for therapy, according to the res...JCI table of contents: September 14, 2006
... NEUROBIOLOGY: Separating muscle damage from neurodegeneration in Kennedy disease Kennedy disease is a neurode...l damage to muscle cells might be one cause of the neurodegeneration that characterizes Kennedy disease. The authors therefore suggest that therapeutics targeting this i...Untangling a pathology of Alzheimer's
...tau that are associated with cognitive decline and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's and similar "tauopathy" diseases. ...The former region is known to be more resistant to neurodegeneration in such diseases than the latter. Tau causes neurodegeneration when a mutant form of the protein for...'Sticky' mice lead to discovery of new cause of neurodegenerative disease
...al defect in protein synthesis could be behind the neurodegeneration they had observed in sticky mice. "There were a lot of candidate genes in the chromosomal region containing the sti mutation," she said, "and this gene was actually the last candidate gene we investigated. It seemed to us that a mutation in a gene...Natural vitamin E tocotrienol reaches blood at protective levels
...n that needed to completely prevent stroke-related neurodegeneration as determined by earlier research. Conventional wisdom has suggested that TCT, if eaten, cannot be carried to organs because the protein known as tocopherol transfer protein (TTP), which delivers TCP throughout the body, doesn't transport TCT very...Cause of neuronal death in Down's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease could be surprisingly simple
...tanding the cellular mechanism of pathogenesis for neurodegeneration in DS. It makes the argument that even in the context of a complex genetic lesion, increased dose for but one gene can impact important features of neuronal structure and function. Though other genes in the trisomic segment must contribute to the def...Finding a cellular Neverland: How stem cells stay childlike
...ion to become a viable therapy for conditions like neurodegeneration or diabetes, clinicians will likely need to artificially manipulate factors that return adult brain or pancreatic cells to a cellular "Tir Nan Og" to restore adult cell types. "Our findings open the possibility of de-differentiating cells in our body...Parkinson's disease mechanism discovered
...o knew that accumulation of alpha-synuclein caused neurodegeneration in animal models of Parkinson's disease, but little was known about alpha-synuclein's normal cellular function or how it contributed to disease. One major problem facing researchers, Lindquist said, was that alpha-synuclein accumulation causes a rang......ystrophy, or INAD, and a related disorder known as neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation, or NBIA. In INAD, a...cause similar lipid metabolism changes are seen in neurodegeneration associated with ischemia from stroke, spinal cord trauma, head injury and Alzheimer's disease, makin...