RxPG News : Neurodegenerative Diseases

Ventricle size increase prior to Alzheimers diagnosis

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 03:51:59 PST

Researchers at Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario have found clear evidence that increases in the size of the brain ventricles are directly associated with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

Improving Cell survival in Huntington's Disease

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 13:16:23 PST

For the first time that it has been demonstrated that it is possible to intervene therapeutically in the proteolytic pathways and organelles that participate in the specific degradation of misfolded and abnormal proteins. This offers hope for treatment of Huntington's disease.

3-D forms link antibiotic resistance and pantothenate kinase associated neurodegeneration

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 16:47:00 PST

The story of what makes certain types of bacteria resistant to a specific antibiotic has a sub-plot that gives insight into the cause of a rare form of brain degeneration among children, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The story takes a twist as key differences among the structures of its main molecular characters disappear and reappear as they are assembled in the cell.

New biomarkers could help doctors spot neurodegenerative diseases

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:06:00 PST

Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in their early stages can be difficult for physicians to spot, and many diagnoses are incorrect. A finding by researchers at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center may soon help in the diagnosis of such diseases.

Nitration Linked to Oxidative Stress Related Damage in Neurodegenerative Disorders

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 02:43:00 PST

Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's disease and other brain disorders are among a growing list of maladies attributed to oxidative stress, the cell damage caused during metabolism when the oxygen in the body assumes ever more chemically reactive forms.

REM sleep disorders can indicate early neurodegeneration

Thu, 29 Jun 2006 02:00:00 PST

The front page of the July 2006 issue of The Lancet Neurology, the journal with the highest international impact, contains a work that shows the relationship between disorders during REM sleep and future neurodegenerative pathologies. This study has been conducted by a Hospital Clínic group led by Dr. Àlex Iranzo. This study is a good example of the fact that a correct diagnosis of sleep disorders by a specialist group can achieve a high relevancy. This diagnosis is possible in the Hospital Clínic thanks to the Multidisciplinary Unit of Sleep Disorders, which is in operation since May 2003, and which consists in 17 specialists from five areas, namely, neurology, psychiatry, psychology, otorhinolaryngology, and pulmonology. This organisation permits a multidisciplinary approach with high resolution tests, department clinical protocols and sessions, with a clear optimisation of resources. The most frequent pathologies treated in this unit are sleep apnoea, snoring, REM sleep behaviour disorders, narcolepsy, night epilepsy or hypersomnia. Only last year, 3,809 visits, 1,819 sleep tests and 40 surgical interventions were made in the unit.

Neurodenegerative diseases mechanisms linked to transport proteins

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 14:01:00 PST

Hampering the transport of proteins within cells may underlie several adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington's, ALS and Kennedy disease. Understanding how this cell transport is blocked in these diseases may offer targets for future therapy.

New Tools Developed for Studying Neurodegenerative Brain Disorders

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:04:00 PST

Penn State researchers have created an elegantly simple model of an axon--the extension of a neuron that communicates with other neurons--and have used this model to reproduce a change in the axon's shape that is characteristic of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. This achievement is the first of its kind in a highly simplified biophysical model system. The model provides a novel avenue for investigating the specific mechanisms that contribute to complex brain diseases. It also provides a means of discovering new kinds of drugs for the treatment of these disorders. The research will be described in a paper to be published in the 4 April 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

New Tools Developed for Studying Neurodegenerative Brain Disorders

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 08:04:00 PST

Research Suggests Abraham Lincoln Suffered from Spinocerebellar Ataxia type 5 (SCA5)

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 16:19:00 PST

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene mutation in the descendants of Abraham Lincoln's grandparents that suggests the Civil War president himself might have also suffered from a disease that destroys nerve cells in the cerebellum-- the part of the brain that controls movement.

Discovery may improve treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Thu, 15 Dec 2005 16:14:00 PST

A team of scientists from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, led by the researcher Salvador Ventura, has developed a method that allows those parts of the proteins that set off aggregation to be identified. Using this method one is able to identify the precise zones of each protein that force these proteins to bond, aggregate and form amyloid fibres. The scientists have tested the method with different proteins involved in conformational diseases, while identifying zones that were already known for their role in protein aggregation and the neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and forms of spongiform encephalopathy, such as mad cow disease (BSE) and its human form, Creuzfeldt-Jacob disease.

Possible molecular origin of nervous system degeneration diseases

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:07:00 PST

New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine points to the possible molecular origin of at least nine human diseases of nervous system degeneration.

MeCP2 - Rett Syndrome protein binds only to specific genes

Sun, 04 Sep 2005 07:27:00 PST

Adrian Bird of the University of Edinburgh and colleagues report today in the online issue of Molecular Cell that the "Rett Syndrome protein", MeCP2, only binds to genes with a specific sequence of nucleotide bases. This knowledge will aid in the identification of the genes that are regulated by the gene MECP2. This work was supported, in part, by the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF).

Spontaneous neuronal activity is reduced in cortex in Rett Syndrome

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:19:00 PST

Sacha Nelson of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA and Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA and their colleagues report online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition that spontaneous neuronal activity is reduced in the cortex of a knockout mouse model for the childhood neurodevelopmental disorder, Rett Syndrome. The Rett Syndrome Research Foundation (RSRF) and the McKnight Foundation funded this project.