Daily non-political popular news in brief.
Growth factor stimulates rapid extension of key motor neurons in brain
11-03-2006 · EurekAlert!A growth factor known to be important for the survival of many types of cells stimulates rapid extension of corticospinal motor neurons -- critical brain cells that connect the cerebral cortex with the spinal cord and that die in motor neuron diseases like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease).
Read more »
Keywords: growth, factor, stimulates, rapid, extension, key, motor, neurons, brain, stimulate, neuron
« Previous | Next »
Similar news on "Growth factor stimulates rapid extension of key motor neurons in brain":
- Neuron cell stickiness may hold key to evolution of the human brain
11-02-2006 · EurekAlert!
The stickiness of human neurons may have been a key factor in why the human brain evolved beyond the brains of our primate relatives. In a study comparing the genomes of humans, chimpanzees and other vertebrates, researchers at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Joint Genome Institute (JGI) found a strikingly high degree of genetic differences in DNA sequences that appear to regulate genes involved in nerve cell adhesion molecules.
Similar news · Read more »
- Diseased brain cells more involved in ALS-associated motor neuron death
04-15-2007 · EurekAlert!
Two papers by Columbia and Harvard researchers report for the first time that astrocytes -- the most abundant non-neuronal cells in the central nervous system, which carry a mutated gene known to cause some cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease) -- induce motor neuron death. This indicates that astrocytes may contribute to ALS by releasing a toxic factor that damages neurons.
Similar news · Read more »
- U-M scientists find new causes for neurodegeneration
10-24-2007 · EurekAlert!
Diseases that cause neurons to break down, such as Alzheimer's, continue to be elusive to scientists and resistant to treatments. A new finding from University of Michigan researchers demonstrates an unpredicted link between a virtually unknown signaling molecule and neuron health. In a study released in PNAS this week, Lois Weisman connects the loss of this molecule to massive neurodegeneration in the brain, which plays a key role in the survival of nervous system cells.
Similar news · Read more »
- Chemical compound found in tree bark stimulates growth, survival of brain cells
10-01-2007 · EurekAlert!
Researchers have identified a compound in tree bark that mimics the chemical reactions of a naturally occurring molecule in the brain responsible for stimulating neuronal cell signaling. The tree bark compound, known as gambogic amide, behaves much like Nerve Growth Factor, a molecule found in the brain. NGF binds to TrkA, a neuronal receptor, and activates neuronal signaling. It is known that the loss of TrkA density correlates with neuronal atrophy and severe cognitive impairment such as that associated with Alzheimer's disease.
Similar news · Read more »
- Parkinson's mutation stunts neurons
11-22-2006 · EurekAlert!
Mutations in a key brain protein known to underlie a form of Parkinson's disease wreaks its damage by stunting the normal growth and branching of neurons, researchers have found. They have pinpointed the malfunction of the protein made by mutant forms of the gene called LRRK2 and how it affects neurons, ultimately leading to their death.
Similar news · Read more »
- Motor protein plays key role in connecting neurons
01-22-2007 · EurekAlert!
A motor protein called myosin X runs the main road of a developing neuron, delivering to its tip a receptor that enables it to communicate with other neurons, scientists say.
Similar news · Read more »
- Researchers hot on the trail of brain cell degeneration
03-19-2007 · EurekAlert!
A research team headed by Academy Research Fellow Michael Courtney has identified a new molecular pathway in neurons. The pathway is a factor in the degeneration of brain cells, which in turn plays an important role in neurological conditions and diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and stroke.
Similar news · Read more »
- Antidepressants stimulate new nerve cells in adult monkeys, may have implications for humans
05-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
In adult monkeys, an antidepressant treatment has induced new nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for learning and memory. A similar process may occur in humans, the research suggests, and may help explain the effectiveness of antidepressant treatments.
Similar news · Read more »
- VEGF neutralization can damage brain vessels, say Schepens Eye Research Institute scientists
02-12-2008 · EurekAlert!
New research by scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute may help explain why the anticancer drug Avastin, which targets a growth factor responsible for creation of new blood vessels, causes potentially fatal brain inflammation in certain patients. Institute scientists mimicked the drug's activity in mice and found that it damaged the cell lining that prevents fluid from leaking from the ventricle into the brain.
Similar news · Read more »
- Health care system for aging nerve cells
03-13-2007 · EurekAlert!
Uncontrolled neuronal death in the brain often gives rise to neurodegenerative illnesses like Parkinson or Alzheimer disease. Whether or not neurons have a long and healthy life is, apart from other factors, determined by the presence of neurotrophic factors. Scientists of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have now provided unambiguous proof that the presence of the neurotrophic factor GDNF and its receptor Ret are essential for the survival of neurons in a specific brain region.
Similar news · Read more »