Neurodegeneration News and Research

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Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons.

Epigenetic Clocks Offer Insight into Biological Age at Cell-Type Resolution

A new priority research paper, featured as the cover of Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 22, was published on December 29, 2024. The paper is titled "Cell-type specific epigenetic clocks to quantify biological age at cell-type resolution."

3 Jan 2025

Stress Pathway in Microglia Found to Contribute to Alzheimer's Neurodegeneration

Researchers with the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have unveiled a critical mechanism that links cellular stress in the brain to the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

26 Dec 2024

Neural Stem Cells Found to Rejuvenate the Aging Brain

Much like plants in a thriving forest, certain cells in the brain create a nurturing environment, enhancing the health and resilience of their neighbors, while others promote stress and damage, akin to a noxious weed in an ecosystem.

19 Dec 2024

New Study Challenges Traditional View of Axon Shape and Function

In a provocative new study, scientists challenge a fundamental tenet in neuroscience about the shape of axons -- the long, thin filaments radiating from nerve cells that transmit electrical signals from cell to cell – and propose a new model for understanding how information is transmitted in the brain.

9 Dec 2024

"Molecular GPS" Developed to Guide Immune Cells into the Brain and Kill Tumors

Researchers have found a way to program immune cells to attack glioblastoma and treat the inflammation of multiple sclerosis in mice.

6 Dec 2024

Researchers Provide Genetic Diagnosis for 30 Long-Term Undiagnosed Cases

An international team of researchers has provided a genetic diagnosis for 30 individuals whose condition was undiagnosed for years despite extensive clinical or genetic testing.

11 Nov 2024

How Neuroimmune Cells Modulate Immune Responses and Neuroinflammation

The brain, traditionally considered an immune-privileged organ due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), has its own sophisticated immune defense system.

7 Nov 2024

Integrating Multiple Scales to Understand Brain Function

A long-standing goal of neuroscience is to understand how molecules and cellular structures on a microscale give rise to communication between brain regions at the macroscale. A study published in Nature Neuroscience now identifies, for the first time, hundreds of brain proteins that explain inter-individual differences in functional connectivity and structural covariation in the human brain.

1 Nov 2024

Personalized Mini-Brains Provide Insight into Autism Spectrum Disorder

Using stem cells generated from patients with a rare and severe form of autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, Scripps Research scientists have grown personalized "mini-brains" (or organoids) to study the disorder in new detail.

24 Oct 2024

Structural Insights into Bacteriophages Open Doors for New Therapeutics

The viruses that infect bacteria are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. For example, a recent simple study of 92 showerheads and 36 toothbrushes from American bathrooms found more than 600 types of bacterial viruses, commonly called bacteriophages or phages.

23 Oct 2024

A New Method to Correct Misplaced Proteins in Cells

Cells are highly controlled spaces that rely on every protein being in the right place. Many diseases, including cancers and neurodegenerative disorders, are associated with misplaced proteins. In some cancers, for instance, a protein that normally stands watch over DNA replicating in the nucleus is sent far from the DNA it is meant to monitor, allowing cancers to grow.

23 Sep 2024

Innovative Stem Cell Research Unveils Glial Cell Dynamics in Multiple Sclerosis

Researchers from The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute and Case Western Reserve University have discovered novel ways in which glia, by using the largest known collection of stem cell models from MS patients, essential brain support cells contribute to the disease.

27 Aug 2024

The Complex Link Between DNA Modification and ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease which remains incurable. The disease is characterized by the selective degeneration of upper motor neurons in the motor cortex as well as the lower motor neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord. The cause of ALS remains unknown in 90 percent of cases, which are referred to as sporadic ALS because there is no family history for the disease. Cumulative evidence suggests that sporadic ALS may result from complex interactions between genetic susceptibility and aging.

23 Aug 2024