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How Neurons Get Wired

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2013Health, Sciencealzheimers, apkc, asymmetric shape, atypical protein, cognitive functions, developing nerve cells, kinase c, mechanism, multiple axons, neurodegenerative diseases, neuronal polarity, neurons, newborn nerve cell, par3, protein, sara parker, signaling enzyme, sophie hapak, sourav ghosh, spinal injuries, university of arizona

Two different versions of the same signaling protein tell a nerve cell which end is which, UA researchers have discovered. The findings could help improve therapies for spinal injuries and neurodegenerative diseases.

University of Arizona scientists have discovered an unknown mechanism that establishes polarity in developing nerve cells. Understanding how nerve cells make connections is an important step in developing cures for nerve damage resulting from spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

In a study published on Aug. 12 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UA doctoral studentSara Parker and her adviser, assistant professor of cellular and molecular medicine Sourav Ghosh, report that the decision which will be the “plus” and the “minus” end in a newborn nerve cell is made by a long and a short version of the same signaling molecule. (more…)

Boosting ‘cellular garbage disposal’ can delay the aging process, UCLA biologists report

By Guest PostJune 3, 2013Healthaging, aging research, alzheimer, anil rana, cardiovascular disease, cells, cellular garbage disposal, cellular machinery, david walker, diabetes, disease in humans, healthy life span, like symptoms, membrane structure, mitochondria, nervous system, neurodegenerative diseases, opposite effect, parkin gene, parkinsons disease, postdoctoral scholar, toxic, ucla biologists, vital functions

UCLA life scientists have identified a gene previously implicated in Parkinson’s disease that can delay the onset of aging and extend the healthy life span of fruit flies. The research, they say, could have important implications for aging and disease in humans.

The gene, called parkin, serves at least two vital functions: It marks damaged proteins so that cells can discard them before they become toxic, and it is believed to play a key role in the removal of damaged mitochondria from cells. (more…)

UMass Amherst Biochemists Trap a Chaperone Machine in Action, Opening Pathway to Possible New Cancer Treatment

By Guest PostJanuary 2, 2013Scienceadp, amino acid chains, anastasia zhuravleva, atp, bacteria, cancer cell, chemical environments, cycle, dnak, drug target, e coli bacteria, Environment, eugenia clerico, folding of proteins, heat shock protein, holding pattern, hsp, hsp70, humans, key step, lila gierasch, massachusetts amherst, mechanism, molecular chaperones, molecular machine, nanofactories, neurodegenerative diseases, nmr methods, nuclear magnetic resonance, origami like, ribosomes, stress, uncontrolled growth, university

AMHERST, Mass. – Molecular chaperones have emerged as exciting new potential drug targets, because scientists want to learn how to stop cancer cells, for example, from using chaperones to enable their uncontrolled growth. Now a team of biochemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst led by Lila Gierasch have deciphered key steps in the mechanism of the Hsp70 molecular machine by “trapping” this chaperone in action, providing a dynamic snapshot of its mechanism.

She and colleagues describe this work in the current issue of Cell. Gierasch’s research on Hsp70 chaperones is supported by a long-running grant to her lab from NIH’s National Institute for General Medical Sciences. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Scientists Help Develop Promising Therapy for Huntington’s Disease

By Guest PostNovember 11, 2012Healthalzheimers, antidepressants, bacterial membrane, berkeley lab, cells, cerebral cortex, chemist, coenzyme q, cognitive decline, compound, cynthia mcmurray, DNA, genetic disorder, genetic mutation, huntingtons disease, loss, mice, mitochondria, mitochondrial function, molecules, motor coordination, motor skills, muscle coordination, neurodegenerative diseases, neuron, organelle, oxidative damage, parkinson's, peter wipf, pittsburgh, power plant, reactive oxygen species, striatum, suppress, survival, symptoms, synthetic antioxidant, university, untreated neuronal cultures, vitamin e, xjb 5 131, xjb treated mice, zhiyin xun

Initial results in mice could lead to new way to fight neurodegenerative diseases

There’s new hope in the fight against Huntington’s disease. A group of researchers that includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a compound that suppresses symptoms of the devastating disease in mice.

The compound is a synthetic antioxidant that targets mitochondria, an organelle within cells that serves as a cell’s power plant. Oxidative damage to mitochondria is implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. (more…)

Scientists Measure Communication between Stem Cell-Derived Motor Neurons, Muscle Cells

By Guest PostMay 10, 2012Science: walking, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, bennett g novitch, breathing, communication, electrode, genetic mutation, joy umbach, lou gehrigs disease, motor function, motor neuron, muscle cells, neurodegenerative diseases, neurological disorder, spinal muscular atrophy, synaptic activity, vitro system

In an effort to identify the underlying causes of neurological disorders that impair motor functions such as walking and breathing, UCLA researchers have developed a novel system to measure communication between stem cell–derived motor neurons and muscle cells in a Petri dish.

The study provides an important proof of principle that functional motor circuits can be created outside the body using these neurons and cells and that the level of communication, or synaptic activity, between them can be accurately measured by stimulating the motor neurons with an electrode and then tracking the transfer of electrical activity into the muscle cells to which the neurons are connected. (more…)

“PARKINSONIAN” Worms May Hold The Key to Identifying Drugs for Parkinson’s Disease, Says Scientist

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2011Health, Scienceadela ben yakar, alzheimers, andres vidal gadea, c elegans worms, degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, dopamine deficient worms, dopaminergic systems, early dementia, early symptoms, genetic structure, humans, jon pierce shimomura, layla young, nervous system, neurobiology, neurodegenerative diseases, parkinsonian, parkinsons disease, potential drugs, potential therapeutic, professor, simple test, stephen topper, terrible time, university of texas at austin, worm model

AUSTIN, Texas — Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have devised a simple test, using dopamine-deficient worms, for identifying drugs that may help people with Parkinson’s disease.

The worms are able to evaluate as many as 1,000 potential drugs a year. The researchers have received federal funding that could increase that to one million drug tests a year. (more…)

Obesity: Yale Researcher Explains Why It’s All in Our Heads

By Guest PostOctober 28, 20101 commentHealth, Sciencealzheimer, appetite, diabetes, environmental factors, estrogen, genetic, higher brain functions, human brain imaging, hungary, hypothalamus, metabolic disorders, metabolism, neurodegenerative diseases, obesity, parkinson, pioneer award, tamas horvath, type 2 diabetes, veterinary medicine, yale daily bulletin

Tamas Horvath. Image credit: Yale University

Tamas Horvath is the first to tell you that he doesn’t study obesity. But his research on the effects of metabolism on higher brain functions could provide deeper understanding of the brain’s link to appetite, weight and to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.

His lab was the first to provide evidence that the brain uses fat as fuel. Horvath has also studied how endocrine signals in the brain regulate neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Horvath followed his father and grandfather into veterinary medicine in his native Hungary, but his training sparked a passion for basic research. His achievements have earned him a long title that speaks to his varied research interests. He became chair of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Yale School of Medicine in 2005, and he is also a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences and Neurobiology. Horvath also heads the Program on Integrative Cell Signaling and the Neurobiology of Metabolism. (more…)

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