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Pregnancy hormone key to repairing nerve cell damage

02-20-2007 · EurekAlert!

The mystery of why multiple sclerosis (MS) tends to go into remission while women are pregnant may be the secret to overcoming the devastating neurodegenerative disease, according to University of Calgary researchers who have shown that the pregnancy-related hormone prolactin is responsible for rebuilding the protective coating around nerve cells. New paper to be published in Feb. 21 edition of the Journal of Neuroscience

Keywords: pregnancy, hormone, key, repairing, nerve, cell, damage

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Deactivating protein may protect nerve fibers in MS
04-23-2007 · EurekAlert!
Oregon Health & Science University neuroscientists are eyeing a protein as a potential therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis because de-activating it protects nerve fibers from damage. OHSU researchers have shown that genetically inactivating a protein called cyclophilin D can protect nerve fibers in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. Cyclophin D is a key regulator of molecular processes in the nerve cell's powerhouse, the mitochondrion, and can participate in nerve fiber death.
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Pregnancy hormone increases nerve cells' insulation, restores damage
02-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
A hormone produced during pregnancy spontaneously increases myelin, which enhances signaling within the nervous system, and helps repair damage in the brain and spinal cord, according to new animal research.
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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.
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What emotional memories are made of
10-04-2007 · EurekAlert!
Both extensive psychological research and personal experiences confirm that events that happen during heightened states of emotion such as fear, anger and joy are far more memorable than less dramatic occurrences. In a report this week in Cell, Johns Hopkins researchers and their collaborators have identified the likely biological basis for this: a hormone released during emotional arousal "primes" nerve cells to remember events by increasing their chemical sensitivity at sites where nerves rewire to form new memory circuits.
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Immune cell age plays role in retinal damage in age-related macular degeneration
11-01-2007 · EurekAlert!
Studying a mouse model of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found age is key in determining whether damaging blood vessels will form beneath the retina and contribute to vision loss.
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Human stem cells delay start of Lou Gehrig's disease in rats
10-15-2006 · EurekAlert!
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that transplanting human stem cells into spinal cords of rats bred to duplicate Lou Gehrig's disease delays the start of nerve cell damage typical of the disease and slightly prolongs life. The grafted stem cells develop into nerve cells that make substantial connections with existing nerves and do not themselves succumb to Lou Gehrig's, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study is published in this week's issue of Transplantation.
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Study identifies new regulator of fat metabolism
06-05-2007 · EurekAlert!
Over the past several years, animal studies have shown that high-fat, low-carbohydrate "ketogenic" diets cause demonstrable changes in metabolism and subsequent weight loss. Now, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have identified a key mechanism behind this turn of events. Their findings, which appear in the June 2007 issue of Cell Metabolism, demonstrate that a liver hormone known as FGF21 is required to oxidize fatty acids -- and thereby burn calories.
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Pregnancy-related heart failure explained, symptoms reversed by simple hormone blocker
02-08-2007 · EurekAlert!
A new study reveals the mechanism responsible for a rare but potentially devastating form of heart failure that sometimes afflicts women late in pregnancy or shortly following childbirth, researchers have reported in the Feb. 9, 2007, issue of Cell, a publication of Cell Press. The so-called postpartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) -- which is estimated to complicate one in every 1,300 to 4,000 deliveries in the US -- is considered among the leading causes of death among postpartum women in industrialized countries.
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Jefferson scientists find protein potential drug target for treatment-resistant prostate cancer
12-31-2007 · EurekAlert!
Scientists at Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia have found that a signaling protein that is key to prostate cancer cell growth is turned on in nearly all recurrent prostate cancers that are resistant to hormone therapy. If the findings hold up, the protein, called Stat5, may be a specific drug target against an extremely difficult-to-treat cancer.
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Cell-surface sugar defects may trigger nerve damage in multiple sclerosis patients
09-20-2007 · EurekAlert!
Defects on cell-surface sugars may promote the short-term inflammation and long-term neurodegeneration that occurs in the central nervous system of multiple sclerosis patients, according to University of California, Irvine researchers.
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