Neurodegeneration News and Research

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Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons.

Scientists explain the role of transcription factors in genetic diseases

Transcription factor proteins can be described as the light switches of the human genome. These proteins bind to DNA and allow genes to turn “on” or “off.”

26 Oct 2020

Researchers identify new therapeutic target for spinocerebellar ataxia

Scientists have created an animal model that simulates cerebellar neurodegeneration and motor dysfunction.

25 Sep 2020

Biomarker for diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases identified in the eye

A new study led by Boston Medical Center researchers indicates a well-known biomarker that serves as a marker for earlier diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases is now detectable in the eye.

24 Sep 2020

Study reveals new gene involved in motor neuron diseases

According to a study, failures in a quality control system that defends protein-building fidelity in cells can result in motor neuron degeneration.

18 Sep 2020

Researchers perform massive and detailed cellular energy audit

TK Adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, is the cellular energy currency that is as valuable to the human body as the dollar is to the US economy. Too high or too low levels of ATP in some cell types have been linked to a variety of diseases.

31 Aug 2020

Protein structural study may lead to more improved research on disease development

Researchers had identified an actin cytoskeketal nucleator, called Arp2/3 complex, more than 20 years ago.

26 Aug 2020

Fault in RNA quality control system causes haywire production of toxic proteins

Osaka, Japan - Researchers at Osaka University have identified a fault in the RNA quality control system of cells that leads to the haywire production of toxic proteins in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FTLD/ALS).

From Osaka University 25 Aug 2020

Protective anti-prion antibodies found in humans

Antibodies targeting the normal PrP version of the prion protein have been found in humans selected at random with no history of any associated transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

18 Aug 2020

Switching off 'master regulator' may offer neuroprotection from Parkinson's-related damage

Switching off a molecular "master regulator" may protect the brain from inflammatory damage and neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease, reports a study published today in Nature Neuroscience.

18 Aug 2020

New startup launched to overcome the challenge of delivering next-generation therapeutics

Harvard University's Office of Technology Development (OTD) and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health today announced the launch of Vesigen Therapeutics, a startup company that aims to overcome the challenge of delivering next-generation therapeutics, such as gene-editing complexes, RNA molecules, and other large proteins, to intracellular targets in specific tissues of interest.

23 Jul 2020

Boosting metabolic resources in the brain could be a way to slow neurodegeneration

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have shown for the first time that when one optic nerve in the eye is damaged, as in glaucoma, the opposite optic nerve comes to the rescue by sharing its metabolic energy.

From Vanderbilt University 22 Jul 2020

New class of proteins can help treat neurological diseases

At the University of Texas Health Science Center, scientists have identified a new group of proteins that guard synapses against damage.

20 Jul 2020

Fatty acid can kill cancer cells, study shows

Researchers have demonstrated that a fatty acid called dihomogamma-linolenic acid, or DGLA, can kill human cancer cells.

13 Jul 2020

TMEM106B gene reveals the causes of neurodegenerative diseases

Across the globe, approximately 50 million people are living with dementia. The two most common forms are Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which develop when neurons in specific parts of the brain stop functioning - triggering memory loss and other behavioral or personality changes.

10 Jul 2020

Research uncovers how 'reubiquitination' promotes elimination of misfolded membrane proteins

Chinese researchers recently discovered a protein quality control mechanism called "reubiquitination".

9 Jul 2020

Researchers identify osmotic stress as stimulator of cellular waste disposal

Cellular waste disposal, where autophagy and lysosomes interact, performs elementary functions, such as degrading damaged protein molecules, which impair cellular function, and reintroducing the resulting building blocks such as amino acids into the metabolic system.

29 Jun 2020

Study may help design effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease

Neurons in the brains of such people are being depleted gradually and inevitably, resulting in the characteristic loss of cognitive function and memory.

29 Jun 2020

Disrupted circadian rhythms in older adults linked to increased risk of Parkinson's disease

Older men who have a weak or irregular circadian rhythm guiding their daily cycles of rest and activity are more likely to later develop Parkinson's disease, according to a new study by scientists at the UC San Francisco Weill Institute for Neurosciences who analyzed 11 years of data for nearly 3,000 independently living older men.

16 Jun 2020

Human stem cell models reveal neurodegeneration in glaucoma

Glaucoma, a serious eye condition responsible for causing vision loss, affects over three million Americans.

12 Jun 2020

Excessive degradation of mitochondria causes severe disease in children

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that excessive degradation of the power plants of our cells plays an important role in the onset of mitochondrial disease in children.