Parkinson’s tagged posts

Phenylindanes in Brewed Coffee Inhibit Amyloid-Beta and Tau Aggregation. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2018; 12 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00735

A new study out of the Krembil Brain Institute, part of the Krembil Research Institute, suggests there could be more to that morning jolt of goodness than a boost in energy and attention. Drinking coffee may also protect you against developing both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. “Coffee consumption does seem to have some correlation to a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease,” says Dr. Donald Weaver, Co-director of the Krembil Brain Institute. “But we wanted to investigate why that is – which compounds are involved and how they may impact age-related cognitive decline.”

Dr. Weaver enlisted Dr...

Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson’s disease. Credit: Wikipedia

New details learned about a key cellular protein could lead to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At their root, proteins misfold and accumulate in neurons, inflicting damage and eventually killing the cells. In a new study, researchers in the laboratory of Steven Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, at the Gladstone Institutes used a different protein, Nrf2, to restore levels of the disease-causing proteins to a normal, healthy range, thereby preventing cell death.

The researchers tested Nrf2 in 2 models of Parkinson’s disease: cells with muta...

Consequences of KP manipulation. KP metabolites and enzymatic steps are indicated in black, whereas the key KP enzymes TDO, KMO, and KATs are indicated in purple. The metabolites 3-HK and QUIN are neurotoxic (as indicated by red arrows), whereas KYNA and TRP are neuroprotective (as indicated by green arrows). Inhibition of TDO results in increased TRP levels, and either TDO or KMO inhibition leads to a reduction in the 3-HK/KYNA ratio (highlighted in blue). The enzyme 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid dioxygenase is not present in flies, and thus QUIN is not synthesized.

Lab-based study discovers way of ‘reversing’ symptoms...

Highlights •The three isoforms of mammalian Tet3 include Tet3FL, Tet3s, and Tet3o •The CXXC domain of Tet3 is a specific reader of 5-carboxylcytosine at CcaCG sequences •The crystal structure of the CXXC domain-5caC complex was solved •Tet3FL in neurons targets genes of the lysosome and base excision repair pathways

Stopping disruptions in cellular “trash removal” brought on by errors in molecular marks on DNA may guard against neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. Novel findings from a team led by Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) Professor Gerd Pfeifer, Ph.D., implicate certain epigenetic modifications in the development of some neurodegenerative diseases...