|
|
 |
RNA Twist: C9ORF72 Intron Expansion Makes Aggregating Protein
8 February 2013. Since the identification of the major ALS and FTLD gene C9ORF72 more than a year ago, scientists have been hunting for clues as to how it promotes disease...
|
| |
|
Mistaken Identity—Prion Disease or Alzheimer’s on Fast Forward?
8 February 2013. Though considered a strange beast in the grand scheme of brain disorders, could rapidly progressing dementia be more common than scientists think?...
|
| |
|
Harvard Secures $100M to Study Brain Trauma, Other Football Injuries
8 February 2013. Harvard University will lead a $100 million research effort to study chronic traumatic encephalopathy and a host of other devastating health problems in professional footballers...
|
| |
|
Research Brief: Octapharma IVIg Iffy in Phase 2 Trial
8 February 2013. Aside from a reasonable safety profile, the first published Phase 2 study of a blood-derived antibody preparation to treat Alzheimer’s disease looks inconclusive at best...
|
| |
GO TO ALL RESEARCH NEWS  |
|
|
 |
|
|
In the spotlight
|
 |
Agent Provocateur: C9ORF72 Intron Makes Aggregating Proteins
|
 |
 DPR proteins
in disease |
Ever since scientists identified a repeat expansion in an intron of the C9ORF72 gene as the major genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), they have puzzled over how that mutation promotes disease. In today’s Science, researchers in Germany report the surprising news that the intron expansions are translated. |
The proteins contain dipeptide repeats. They aggregate into deposits found in neurons of mutation carriers, but not in people with other types of ALS/FTLD. The discovery suggests that these dipeptide repeat proteins are major pathological players in a subset of ALS/FTLD patients. Scientists in the field hailed the findings as a major advance. Read the full story. Image courtesy of Kohji Mori and Dieter Edbauer
|
|
|
|
|
Bulking Up AlzRisk—Database Adds Obesity, Expands Diabetes
|
|
 AlzRisk diabetes plot |
AlzRisk just expanded its girth. The public database of environmental risks for Alzheimer's disease now includes obesity, bringing to 10 the number of factors covered. AlzRisk curators also beefed up the data on diabetes, and improved how search strategies and meta-analyses are displayed. Their analysis strongly suggests obesity in midlife is a risk factor for AD. In late life, when people can lose muscle, the trend reverses, though perhaps for reasons other than body weight itself.For a detailed discussion, read the full story and check out the new AlzRisk obesity entry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Meeting Probes Latest in AD Imaging Research and Diagnosis
|
|
 Aβ and white matter integrity |
In Miami earlier this month, at the 7th Human Amyloid Imaging conference, experts discussed the latest topics in brain imaging, from tau PET tracers to guidelines on the responsible clinical use of amyloid scans. Unexpected relationships began to emerge |
between Aβ deposition and other biomarkers, resurrecting for the moment the question of which comes first—tau or Aβ aggregation? Does cerebrospinal fluid Aβ actually dip before plaque formation? Over the coming days, read Gwyneth Dickey Zakaib's coverage of these topics and more, including the new "centiloid" project, which aims to numerically unify different Aβ tracers.
|
|
|
|
|
AD/PD 2013 Registration in Full Swing
|
|
 Click image
for more details. |
As winter stretches into its second, gloomy phase, think spring—think Italy. Register for the largest European conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's before current fees go up on 21 February and hotels near the conference venue are booked. Nearly 2,000 abstracts have been submitted, and thought leaders from around the world will discuss current science and research priorities with a large contingent of
young investigators, 21 of whom will receive |
awards. An imaging satellite meeting will precede the main conference on 5 March 2013. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
What's New
|
|
Comments - Posted 8 February 2013
Read remarks by Christopher E. Pearson about
Mori K et al.
NEWS: RNA Twist: C9ORF72 Intron Expansion Makes Aggregating Protein |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 8 February 2013
Read remarks by Boris Rogelj about
Mori K et al.
NEWS: RNA Twist: C9ORF72 Intron Expansion Makes Aggregating Protein |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 8 February 2013
Read remarks by Agneta Nordberg about Douaud G et al.
PAPER: Brain Microstructure Reveals Early Abnormalities more than Two Years prior to Clinical Progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer's Disease. |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 7 February 2013
Read remarks by Željko Svedruzic about
Coric V et al.
NEWS: Déjà Vu? AD Patients Again Look Worse on γ-Secretase Inhibitor |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 6 February 2013
Read remarks by Takaomi Saido about Gold A et al.
PAPER: Enteric alpha-synuclein expression is increased in Parkinson's disease but not Alzheimer's disease. |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 6 February 2013
Read remarks by Takaomi Saido about Lehmann M et al.
PAPER: Diverging patterns of amyloid deposition and hypometabolism in clinical variants of probable Alzheimer's disease. |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 6 February 2013
Read remarks by Takaomi Saido about Kimura T et al.
PAPER: Pin1 Stimulates Dephosphorylation of Tau at Cdk5-Dependent Alzheimer Phosphorylation Sites. |
| |
|
Comments - Posted 6 February 2013
Read remarks by Dennis Selkoe about
Yang T et al.
NEWS: New Assays for Aβ Oligomers—Spinal Fluid a Miss, Brain Awash |
SEE MORE |
Home
See our latest Webinar: 
