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    Parkinson’s disease tagged posts

    Rapid Eye Movement Sleep: Keystone of Memory Formation

    May 13, 2016, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    Dreaming. REM sleep is understood to be a critical component of sleep in all mammals, including humans. Credit: © Anton Maltsev / Fotolia

    Dreaming. REM sleep is understood to be a critical component of sleep in all mammals, including humans. Credit: © Anton Maltsev / Fotolia

    For decades, scientists have fiercely debated whether rapid eye movement (REM) sleep – the phase where dreams appear – is directly involved in memory formation. Now researchers provide evidence that REM sleep does, indeed, play this role – at least in mice. “We already knew that newly acquired information is stored into different types of memories, spatial or emotional, before being consolidated or integrated,” says Sylvain Williams, a researcher and professor of psychiatry at McGill.

    “How the brain performs this process has remained unclear – until now...

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    Blood-Brain Barrier breakthrough reported

    April 8, 2016, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    Cornell researchers found that an FDA-approved drug called Lexiscan activates receptors -- called adenosine receptors -- that are expressed on BBB cells. Credit: Dr. Margaret Bynoe, College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University

    Cornell researchers found that an FDA-approved drug called Lexiscan activates receptors — called adenosine receptors — that are expressed on BBB cells. Credit: Dr. Margaret Bynoe, College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University

    Cornell researchers have discovered a way to penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB) that may soon permit delivery of drugs directly into the brain to treat disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and chemotherapy-resistant cancers. The BBB is a layer of endothelial cells that selectively allow entry of molecules needed for brain function, such as amino acids, oxygen, glucose and water, while keeping others out. An FDA-approved drug, Lexiscan activates adenosine receptors – that are expressed on these BBB cells.

    “We can open the BBB for a brief window of time, lo...

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    Structure of Parkinson’s Protein could lead to new Diagnostic, Treatment options

    March 28, 2016, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    Three-dimensional structure of an [alpha]-syn fibril.

    Three-dimensional structure of an α-syn fibril.

    Chemists have identified the complex chemical structure of the protein that stacks together to form fibrils in the brains of Parkinson’s disease patients. Thus researchers can identify specific targets for diagnosis and treatment. In Parkinson’s, the protein alpha-synuclein forms long fibrils that disrupt brain activity. This is similar to the beta-amyloid fibrils that form in Alzheimer’s disease patients. However, while the beta-amyloid structure is known, the alpha-synuclein structure has eluded researchers as a result of its complexity, its insolubility and the difficulty of characterizing one protein within a fibril.

    “This is the first structure of the full-length fibril protein, which is now well established to be important for the patho...

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    Drug Delivery Technique Bypasses BBB may help many patients with Neurological Conditions

    October 20, 2015, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Environment/Geology, Health/Medical

    Drugs used to treat a variety of central nervous system diseases may be administered through the nose and diffused through an implanted mucosal graft (A, in red) to gain access to the brain. Under normal circumstances, there are multiple layers within the nose that block the access of pharmaceutical agents from getting to the brain including bone and the dura/arachnoid membrane, which represents part of the blood-brain barrier (B). After endoscopic skull base surgery (C), all of these layers are removed and replaced with a nasal mucosal graft, which is 1,000 times more porous than the native blood-brain barrier. Consequently, these grafts may be used to deliver very large drugs, including proteins, which would otherwise be blocked by the blood-brain barrier. Credit: Garyfallia Pagonis and Benjamin S. Bleier, M.D.

    Drugs used to treat a variety of central nervous system diseases may be administered through the nose and diffused through an implanted mucosal graft (A, in red) to gain access to the brain. Under normal circumstances, there are multiple layers within the nose that block the access of pharmaceutical agents from getting to the brain including bone and the dura/arachnoid membrane, which represents part of the blood-brain barrier (B). After endoscopic skull base surgery (C), all of these layers are removed and replaced with a nasal mucosal graft, which is 1,000 times more porous than the native blood-brain barrier. Consequently, these grafts may be used to deliver very large drugs, including proteins, which would otherwise be blocked by the blood-brain barrier...

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