Prion disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis all share a common etiology: neurodegeneration linked to the misfolding and aggregation of a specific protein. But the causes of neuronal death in these diseases are still poorly understood, impeding the development of strategies to prevent neurodegeneration. To fill this knowledgeContinueContinue reading “Protecting neurons from misfolded prion proteins”
Tag Archives: Parkinson’s disease
New target for Parkinson’s treatment
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD) have identified a promising new target for treating Parkinson’s disease and further shown that drugs already in development may effectively reach that target. Lab Anim. (NY) 42, 345 (2013). view full text (login required)
A spoonful of sugar
Mary Poppins may not be medically trained, but she was right about at least one thing: a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down. Mannitol is a sugar alcohol used commercially as an artificial sweetener and medically to facilitate the delivery of drugs into the brain by disrupting the blood–brain barrier. Now,ContinueContinue reading “A spoonful of sugar”
A possible cause of Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease, the second most common neurodenegerative disorder, affects roughly 1% of people over 60 years old. It is characterized by a loss of dopamine-producing neurons in a region of the brain that regulates movement and coordination. For most cases of Parkinson’s disease, the underlying cause is unknown but is thought to comprise both geneticContinueContinue reading “A possible cause of Parkinson’s disease”
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