Neurodegenerative Diseases | biochemical-pathways

What is a Neurodegenerative Disease?

The brain is composed of millions of neurons which are responsible for various important functions such as delivering messages to sections of the brain that allow humans to move, speak, and etc. Now, in some cases individuals begin to experience neurodegeneration where the neurons in the human brain begin to die off. Neurons cannot be replenished and so once they die off, the brain has forever lost them. This results in a degeneration of cognitive and motor abilities which leads to many of the diseases under the branch of Neurodegnerative Diseases. [1] [2]

Click on the pictures below to learn more about the biochemical pathways involved in the following neurodegenerative diseases!

Parkinson's Disease

Alzheimer's Disease

Huntington's Disease

Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Primary Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

The brain. Image Citation [1]

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Stem Cells to Treat Neurodegernative Diseases!

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Neurodegenerative Disease Modeling

Recently, induced pluripotent cell lines (iPSC) lines have been generated from skin cells of individuals with a variety of degenerative diseases, including AD and PD. Investigators say that when a disease-specific phenotype is detectable in differentiated cells, reprogramming technology provides a new opportunity to identify aberrant disease-associated pathways and drugs that can block them. By studying the differences between normal and diseased cells, researchers can better understand what causes cells to die and identify key points in the process that may lead to treatments to change the course of the disease.

Read full article at: http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligence/induced-pluripotent-stem-cells-for-neurodegenerative-disease-modeling/77900365/

MS Patients Given Stem Cells Improve

Patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis showed signs of improvement after being treated with their own, or autologous "nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cells," a class of blood-forming stem cells, the study found. It was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Half, or 41 patients, tested two years after treatment experienced significant improvement on the Expanded Disability Status Scale, a measure of disability. And of patients tested at 4 years, 23, or 64 percent, showed significant improvement. Four-year relapse-free survival was 80 percent and progression-free survival was 87 percent.

Read full article at: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/jan/20/stem-cells-multiple-sclerosis-hematopoietic-jama/

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From Stem Cell to Nerve Cell in a Few Weeks

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Using this method, the scientists discovered that stem cells develop into immature nerve cells just four days after being implanted into a mouse brain. “Over a period of four weeks, more and more stem cells develop into such nerve cells. After three months, mature nerve cells have formed in the brain,” says Annette Tennstaedt from the Max Planck Institute in Cologne. The cells are already electrically active and therefore functional, as their cooperation partners, a team of researchers headed by Peter Kloppenburg at Cologne University have shown.

Read full article at: http://www.nanowerk.com/news2/biotech/newsid=38801.php

Visit the page: NeuroSciNerds to discover more amazing articles regarding the brain!