A compound called cambinol shows great promise as a future Alzheimer’s drug. The molecule has halted the spread of the toxic brain protein tau in cell cultures and mice. A brain protein called tau is known to play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Our brain cells have a “transport system” made of...
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New tool predicts deadly form of rare cancer
Two patients with mycosis fungoides (MF) can appear to have identical diseases upon first diagnosis but can have radically different outcomes. MF in an unusual cancer of the T lymphocyte that begins in the skin rather than in the lymph nodes, with the first sign often being a rash. Most patients with MF, the most...
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Diverse Parkinson’s-related disorders may stem from different strains of same protein
(A) α-Synuclein aggregations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) patients. (B) GCI-α-Syn and LB-α-Syn strains do not have cell-type preferences and they can both be initiated by the same misfolded α-Syn seeds Different Parkinson’s-related brain disorders, called synucleionpathies, are characterized by misfolded proteins embedded in cells. Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at...
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Diabetes-associated pain linked to disrupted insulin signalling
The chronic pain experienced by a number of patients with diabetes has widely been assumed to originate from damage to blood vessels or to local tissue surrounding neurons caused by high blood-sugar levels. However, a new study reports that in fruit flies, this pain hypersensitivity results instead from disrupted insulin signaling in pain sensory neurons....
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Gene disruption signals cerebral palsy and autism link
University of Adelaide researchers has uncovered a genetic signal common to both cerebral palsy and autism. The finding comes from the first large-scale study of gene expression in children with cerebral palsy. The researchers, from the University’s Australian Collaborative Cerebral Palsy Research Group in the Robinson Research Institute, also showed common underlying molecular pathways in clinically diverse cerebral palsy. They say both...
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Pericytes: Capillary Guardians in the Brain
Nerve cells, or neurons, in our brains, do amazing work, from telling our hearts to beat to storing our memories. But neurons cannot operate alone. Many kinds of cells support and regulate neurons and—like neurons—they can come under attack due to injuries or disorders, such as stroke or Alzheimer’s disease. Learning what jobs these cells...
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A World Without Pain
In an immersive virtual reality environment called “Snow World,” burn patients distract themselves from their pain by tossing snow balls, building snowmen and interacting with penguins. Credit: Ari Hollander and Howard Rose, copyright Hunter Hoffman, UW You glide across an icy canyon where you meet smiling snowmen, waddling penguins and a glistening river that winds...
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New research puts distinct memories of similar events in their place
Neuroscientists have found new evidence on how distinct memories of similar events are represented in the brain. Its findings, which appear in the journal Neuron, correct a previous misconception of how such memories are stored in the hippocampus–a part of the brain crucial for memory and understanding space. “Previous research suggested that brain cells were ‘re-mapped’ in making...
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A new puzzle piece to control the aging and age-related diseases
A basic discovery of how the cellular functions are connected to control aging is presented in the journal Cell Metabolism. The study shows that an increasingly deteriorating communication between the cells’ organelles is an important cause of aging. The discovery is the result of a collaboration between five research groups at the University of Stockholm and Gothenburg. IMAGE: MARTIN...
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Molecular ‘rabble-rouser’ fuels pancreatic cancer growth
A type of molecular ‘rabble-rouser’ that triggers pancreatic cancer to become aggressive and spread around the body has been identified by scientists. Aggressive pancreatic cancer cells. Credit: Imperial College London The team behind the early-stage research, led by Imperial College London and funded by Pancreatic Cancer UK, say the findings may open avenues for treatments that...