Biocompare.com RSS feed http://www.biocompare.com/ © 2010 Biocompare.com Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:03:48 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Neuroscientists have long wondered how individual connections between brain cells remain diverse and "fit" enough for storing new memories. Reported in the prestigious science journal Neuron, a new study led by Dr. Inna Slutsky of the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University describes what makes some memories stick. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335974 Biocompare.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:53:00 GMT LA JOLLA, Calif., July 29, 2010 - Although their genetic underpinnings differ, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are all characterized by the untimely death of brain cells. What triggers cell death in the brain? According to a new study published by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) in the July 30 issue of Molecular Cell, the answer in some cases is the untimely transfer of a gaseous molecule (known as nitric oxide, or NO) from one protein to another. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335971 Biocompare.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:47:00 GMT LA JOLLA, CA - July 28, 2010 - For Immediate Release - A chemical compound that boosts the action of a molecule normally produced in the brain may provide the starting point for a new line of therapies for the treatment of epileptic seizures, according to a new study by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335946 Biocompare.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:57:00 GMT Researchers in Heidelberg and Stanford have discovered a new signalling pathway of brain cells that explains how widely used antihypertensive drugs could keep inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) in check. The peptide angiotensin not only raises blood pressure but also activates the immunological messenger substance TGF beta on a previously unknown communication pathway in the brain. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335767 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:32:00 GMT Cascades of genetic signals determine which neurotransmitter a brain cell will ultimately use to communicate with other cells. Now a pair of reports from biologists at the University of California, San Diego, have shown for the first time that electrical activity in these developing neurons can alter their chemical fate-and change an animal's behavior-by tweaking this genetic program. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335766 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:04:00 GMT STANFORD, Calif. - Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a molecular pathway responsible for the death of key nerve cells whose loss causes Parkinson's disease. This discovery not only may explain how a genetic mutation linked to Parkinson's causes the cells' death, but could also open the door to new therapeutic approaches for the malady. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335764 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:01:00 GMT A new study reveals that an enzyme linked with multiple disorders is also involved in the generation of toxic, neuron-killing protein fragments in Huntington's disease (HD). The research, published by Cell Press in the July 29 issue of Neuron, provides insight into Huntington's pathology and proposes new therapeutic strategies for this devastating incurable disease. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335762 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:08:00 GMT Scientists at the Buck Institute for Age Research have discovered that a particular family of enzymes are involved in the breakdown of proteins that modify the production of toxic fragments that lead to the pathology of Huntington's disease. These enzymes, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), provide new targets for drug therapies for the disease - targets that have already been shown to respond to cancer drugs currently in clinical development. Results of the research, from the laboratories of Buck faculty members Lisa Ellerby, Ph.D. and Robert Hughes, Ph.D., appear as the cover story in the July 29, 2010 edition of Neuron. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335761 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:07:00 GMT Michelangelo, the 16th century master painter and accomplished anatomist, appears to have hidden an image of the brainstem and spinal cord in a depiction of God in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers reports. These findings by a neurosurgeon and a medical illustrator, published in the May Neurosurgery, may explain long controversial and unusual features of one of the frescoes' figures. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335749 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:30:00 GMT Researchers watched two groups of mice, both nearing the end of a two-day fast. One group was quietly huddled together, but the other group was active and alert. The difference? The second set of mice had been engineered so their brains produced more SIRT1, a protein known to play a role in aging and longevity. http://news.biocompare.com/newsstory.asp?id=335747 Biocompare.com Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:25:00 GMT