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    Category Health/Medical

    Stop the rogue ADAM gene and you stop Asthma

    July 21, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Schematic representation of the contribution of soluble ADAM33 (sADAM33)...

    Schematic representation of the contribution of soluble ADAM33 (sADAM33) as a local tissue susceptibility gene in asthma pathobiology.

    A potential novel way of preventing asthma at the origin of the disease has been found, a finding that could challenge the current understanding of the condition. Insight, analysed the impact of the gene ADAM33, which is associated with the development of asthma. ADAM33 makes an enzyme, which is attached to cells in the airway muscles. When the enzyme loses its anchor to the cell surface, it is prone to going rogue around the lung causing poorer lung function in people who have asthma.

    The studies in human tissue samples and mice, led by A/Prof Hans Michel Haitchi suggests that if you inhibit ADAM33 or prevent it from going rouge, the features of asthma – a...

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    Discovery may lead to a Rx to slow Parkinson’s disease

    July 20, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Primary hippocampal neurons from mice express G2019S-LRRK2. The neurons were treated with alpha-synuclein fibrils, and 18 days later immunofluorescence was performed. The magenta shows phospho-alpha-synuclein inclusions in the cell bodies and throughout the axons, which are visualized as green. Credit: UAB

    Primary hippocampal neurons from mice express G2019S-LRRK2. The neurons were treated with alpha-synuclein fibrils, and 18 days later immunofluorescence was performed. The magenta shows phospho-alpha-synuclein inclusions in the cell bodies and throughout the axons, which are visualized as green. Credit: UAB

    A team has shown the most common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease – a mutant LRRK2 kinase enzyme – contributes to the formation of inclusions in neurons, resembling one of the hallmark pathologies seen in Parkinson’s disease. These inclusions are made up of aggregated alpha synuclein protein, which – the research also shows – can be prevented from forming by using 2 LRRK2 kinase inhibitor drugs now being developed for clinical use.

    The interaction between mutant LRRK2 kinase and alph...

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    Neurons form Synapse Clusters

    July 20, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    The synapses of pyramid cells in the cerebral cortex form functional groups. Some of the related synapses are shown in green in the reconstruction. Credit: MPI of Neurobiology / Scheuss

    The synapses of pyramid cells in the cerebral cortex form functional groups. Some of the related synapses are shown in green in the reconstruction. Credit: MPI of Neurobiology / Scheuss

    The contact points of cells in the cerebral cortex form functional groups. The cerebral cortex resembles a vast switchboard. Countless lines carrying information about the environment, for example from the sensory organs, converge in the cerebral cortex. In order to direct the flow of data into meaningful pathways, the individual pyramidal cells of the cerebral cortex act like miniature switchboard operators. Each cell receives information from several thousand lines. Scientists have shown for the first time that synapses between specific neuron types are clustered in groups on the target neuron...

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    Protein found to Bolster Growth of Damaged Muscle tissue

    July 19, 2016, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Activating [beta]1-integrin in mdx mice ameliorates dystrophic pathology and restores muscle strength.

    Activating β1-integrin in mdx mice ameliorates dystrophic pathology and restores muscle strength.

    This could potentially contribute to Rx for muscle degeneration caused by old age and diseases such as muscular dystrophy. A particular type of protein called integrin is present on the stem cell surface and used by stem cells to interact with, or “sense” their surroundings. How stem cells sense their surroundings, also known as the stem cell “niche,” affects how they live and last for regeneration. The presence of the protein β1-integrin was shown to help promote the transformation of those undifferentiated stem cells into muscle after the tissue has degraded, and improve regenerated muscle fiber growth as much as 50%.

    The experiment shows that β1-integrin – one of 28 types of integrin – mai...

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