Degenerative Disorder

News Degenerative Disorder

• Stem cell research delivers new points of attack against Parkinson’s disease
  

  In a seven-year research effort, an international team of scientists has clarified the cause for certain genetic forms of Parkinson’s disease, and has identified potential pharmacological treatments. The interdisciplinary research team, led by Prof. Rejko Krüger, of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems more

• New method reveals how the Parkinson's disease protein damages cell membranes
  

  In sufferers of Parkinson's disease, clumps of α-synuclein (alpha-synuclein), sometimes known as the 'Parkinson's protein', are found in the brain. These destroy cell membranes, eventually resulting in cell death. Now, a new method developed at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, reveals how more

• Cleaning craze in the brain
  

  Synapses consist of hundreds of different proteins. For correct transmission of brain signals, their building blocks must constantly be checked for functionality and replaced by new ones. A team of researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Neurobiology Magdeburg, the German Centre for Neurodegenerat more

Videos Degenerative Disorder

Fly models of Parkinson’s disease point way to new therapies

Celardi et al. "Mitofusin-mediated ER stress triggers neurodegeneration in pink1/parkin models of Parkinson’s disease" Cell Death and Disease (2016). doi:10.1038/cddis.2016.173 more

White papers Degenerative Disorder

• Novel aggregation-specific fluorogen monitors prefibrillar protein aggregation by fluorescence polarisation (FP)
  

  Highly ordered protein aggregates, termed amyloid fibrils, are associated with a broad range of diseases, many of which are neurodegenerative more

Infographics Degenerative Disorder

Deuterating fatty acids to treat diseases

Maksim Fomich is currently looking into creating deuterated polyunsaturated fatty acid compounds, with a view to using them to potentially treat a range of diseases. Here, he shows the premise behind his research. A description of his research can be read via the link on the right side. more

Publications Degenerative Disorder

• MPTP-driven NLRP3 inflammasome activation in microglia plays a central role in dopaminergic neurodegeneration

  Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) and the reduction of dopamine levels in the striatum. Although details of the molecular mechanisms underlying dopaminergic neuronal death in PD remain un more

• DNA-mediated dimerization on a compact sequence signature controls enhancer engagement and regulation by FOXA1

  Abstract FOXA1 is a transcription factor capable to bind silenced chromatin to direct context-dependent cell fate conversion. Here, we demonstrate that a compact palindromic DNA element (termed ‘DIV’ for its diverging half-sites) induces the homodimerization of FOXA1 with strongly positive cooperat more

• 3D Neuromelanin‐sensitive magnetic resonance imaging of the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease

  Abstract Background To investigate the diagnostic utility of signal intensity measurement of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) using three dimensional (3D) neuromelanin‐sensitive 31MRI, for discrimination of patients with PD from healthy controls. Methods T1‐weighted neuromelanin more