Finding key structural insights into the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois and EMSL recently completed a detailed structural and dynamic characterization of full-length α-Synuclein (AS) fibrils. AS fibrils are the major component of Lewy bodies, the pathological hallmark of Parkinson's disease, which affects approximately 1–2% of the population over age 65. By applying state-of-the-art, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) capabilities at EMSL, including the 900-MHz NMR spectrometer, as well as improved sample preparation and labeling schemes, the researchers detected many previously unobserved residues in the fibrils and performed detailed analysis of the side chains as well as the backbone. The team’s results show that the core extends with a repeated structural motif and that three single-point mutations associated with early-onset Parkinson's disease —A30P, E46K and A53T—are located in structured regions.
New Modeling of Brain’s Circuitry May Bring Better Understanding of Parkinson’s Disease. September 27, 2011 INDIANAPOLIS -- Researchers from the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have developed a mathematical model of the brain’s neural circuitry that may provide a better understanding of how and why information is not transmitted correctly in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients.
This knowledge may eventually help scientists and clinicians correct these misfires. Work led by Leonid L. Rubchinsky, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematical sciences in the School of Science at IUPUI, examines the exchange of electric signals within the Parkinson affected brain, demonstrating that repetitious, overlapped firing of neurons can lead to waves of overly synchronized brain activity. A report on the model appears in the September 2011 issue of the journal Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, a publication of the American Institute of Physics.
Related Articles Scientist Who Developed Prozac Receives International Honor. European Journal of Pharmacology : Effect of rasagiline on the molecular composition of the excitatory postsynaptic density. Neuropharmacology and Analgesia a Department of Pharmacological Sciences University of Milan, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milan, Italyb DiSCAFF and DFB Center, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italyc H Lundbeck A/S, Valby, Copenhagen, Denmark Received 28 February 2011, Revised 31 August 2011, Accepted 7 September 2011, Available online 21 September 2011 Choose an option to locate/access this article: Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Check access Show more Show less Get rights and content Abstract In the last decade, several neuroprotective therapies have been proposed for Parkinson's disease and rasagiline was indicated as one of the most promising candidates by preclinical studies.
Keywords Rasagiline; NMDA receptor; Postsynaptic density; Neuroprotection; Rat; Parkinson's disease Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. Crucial Link Between Prions And ALS Discovered - May Transform Treatment. National Parkinson Foundation Announces Three Novel Parkinson's Research Projects. Cogane Study on Neurotrophic Factors. A New Way To Breach The Blood-brain Barrier. New target for treating symptoms of Parkinson's disease. A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This discovery offers new hope for treating those suffering from this devastating neurodegenerative disease. In a paper being published online September 8 in Neuron, Gladstone Investigator Anatol Kreitzer, PhD, identifies how the loss of dopamine alters the wiring of a small group of brain cells, kicking off a chain of events that eventually leads to difficulties controlling movement -- a hallmark of Parkinson's disease.
More than a half-million people suffer from Parkinson's in the United States, including the boxer Muhammad Ali and the actor Michael J. Fox. Normally, two types of brain cells called medium spiny neurons, or MSNs, work together to coordinate body movements, with one type acting like a gas pedal and the other as a brake. Dr. Dr. Research breakthrough takes significant step towards improving human health. Scientists Discover Genetic Mutation that Causes Parkinson's Disease. Gladstone Scientist Finds New Target For Treating Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. SAN FRANCISCO, CA - A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This discovery offers new hope for treating those suffering from this devastating neurodegenerative disease.
In a paper being published online today in Neuron, Gladstone Investigator Anatol Kreitzer, PhD, identifies how the loss of dopamine alters the wiring of a small group of brain cells, kicking off a chain of events that eventually leads to difficulties controlling movement—a hallmark of Parkinson's disease. More than a half-million people suffer from Parkinson's in the United States, including the boxer Muhammad Ali and the actor Michael J.
Fox. Normally, two types of brain cells called medium spiny neurons, or MSNs, work together to coordinate body movements, with one type acting like a gas pedal and the other as a brake. Dr. Dr. Exact brain electrode placement for Parkinson’s patients now possible; Research opens the way to more precise deep brain stimulation. Deep brain stimulation stops limb tremors in Parkinson's patients. But positioning the stimulation electrode in the brain must be done very precisely to avoid undesired side-effects. To make this possible, researcher Ellen Brunenberg of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has developed a method for precise, external localization of the right part of the brain: the motor area of the subthalamic nucleus. She has found an ingenious way to localize this 'magic area': by using MRI to visualize the pathways in the brain that lead to it.
"If you take away the towns and cities on a map, you can still see where they are located from the pattern of the roads," says Brunenberg, who will earn her PhD on Sept. 8 for her thesis entitled 'Hitting the right target'. Deep brain stimulation has been used since the 1980s on patients with a severe form of Parkinson's disease. Symptoms of this incurable brain disease include the well-known tremors of arms and legs.