neurodegenerative diseases tagged posts

Restricting calories is known to improve health and increase lifespan, but much of how it does so remains a mystery, especially in regard to how it protects the brain. Buck Institute for Research on Aging scientists have uncovered a role for a gene called OXR1 that is necessary for the lifespan extension seen with dietary restriction and is essential for healthy brain aging.

“When people restrict the amount of food that they eat, they typically think it might affect their digestive tract or fat buildup, but not necessarily about how it affects the brain,” said Kenneth Wilson, Ph.D...

Fractalkine appears to trigger repair of brain damage caused by the disease. A University of Alberta researcher is one step closer to demonstrating the potential of a brain molecule called fractalkine to halt and even reverse the effects of multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the myelin, or fatty lining of nerve cells, is eroded, leading to nerve damage and slower signalling between the brain and the body. MS symptoms range from blurred vision to complete paralysis, and while there are treatments, the causes are not fully understood and nothing exists to reverse the disease process. More than 90,000 Canadians live with MS, according to the MS Society.

In new research published in Stem Cell Reports, Anastas...

Immune cell discovery a new attack on Alzheimer’s, neurological disorders. Combating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases by inserting healthy new immune cells into the brain has taken a leap toward reality. Neuroscientists at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Pennsylvania have found a way to safely thwart the brain’s resistance to them, vaulting a key hurdle in the quest.

Their discovery about brain cells called microglia heralds myriad possibilities for treating and even preventing neurodegenerative disorders. The team’s paper appears in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

When microglia are healthy, ...

New insights into the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases. Findings by researchers from Germany support the view that hyperactive immune cells in the brain can have a protective effect in the course of neurodegenerative diseases. Experts from Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) and LMU Klinikum München report on this in the scientific magazine The EMBO Journal. The scientists are currently considering that modulating the activity of immune cells in the brain via a receptor called TREM2 may significantly impact neurodegenerative disease processes. Thus, they see activating TREM2 as a promising approach for drug research.

The immune cells of the brain — called “microglia” — act against pathogens, help to c...