Category Biology/Biotechnology

Nucleus of a cell undergoing parthanatos. Credit: Yingfei Wang and I-Hsun Wu/Johns Hopkins Medicine

Common culprit may cause damage in stroke, brain injury, neurodegenerative disease like Alzheimer’s. Researchers at Johns Hopkins say they have pinpointed the protein at the end of that chain of events, one that delivers the fatal strike by carving up a cell’s DNA. The find, they say, potentially opens up a new avenue for the development of drugs to prevent, stop or weaken the process.

The new experiments, conducted in laboratory-grown cells, build on earlier work by research partners Ted Dawson, M.D., Ph.D., and Valina Dawson, Ph.D., professor of neurology...

University of Iowa researchers have found that the gut may be key to preventing Parkinson’s disease. Cells located in the intestine spark an immune response that protects nerve cells, or neurons, against damage connected with Parkinson’s disease. Acting like detectives, the immune intestinal cells identify damaged machinery within neurons and discard the defective parts. That action ultimately preserves neurons whose impairment or death is known to cause Parkinson’s. Credit: Veena Prahlad, University of Iowa

Your gut may be key to preventing Parkinson’s disease. Cells in the intestine spark an immune response that protects nerve cells, or neurons, against damage connected with Parkinson’s disease...

Nitrate Intake Promotes Shift in Muscle Fiber Type Composition during Sprint Interval Training in Hypoxia. Frontiers in Physiology, 2016; 7 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2016.00233

Nitrate supplementation in conjunction with Sprint Interval Training in low oxygen conditions could enhance sport performance a study has found. Researchers from the University of Leuven in Belgium carried out a study with 27 moderately trained participants. These were given nitrate supplements ahead of Sprint Interval Training (SIT) in the form of short intense cycling sessions 3 times a week. Nitrate is commonly found in diets rich in leafy green foods, like spinach and is important for the functioning of the human body, especially during exercise.

To assess differences in performance in different conditions, the study i...

This diagram demonstrates how the neuropeptide Prokineticin-2 (PK2) is rapidly induced during early stages of neurotoxic stress and secreted into extracellular spaces. ISU biomedical scientists have published new research indicating PK2 may act as a protective mechanism that helps neurons cope with Parkinson’s disease. Credit: Anumantha Kanthasamy

A protein that may safeguard neurons from the ravages of Parkinson’s disease has been identified by a team of scientists. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that takes years to develop. A better understanding of Prokineticin-2 could turn up a means of slowing development of the disease or lead to new therapies, say the investigators. “The neurons use PK2 to cope with stress. It’s an in-built protective mechanism,” said Prof...