1,721,332 research outputs found
Science and politics. An interview with Elena Cattaneo, Director of the Centre for Stem Cell Research at the University of Milano, Italy. Interview by Marta Paterlini
No full textNeural stem cell therapy for neurological diseases: dreams and reality. Nature Reviews Neuroscience
No full textNeural stem cell systems : physiological players or in vitro entities?
No full textNeural stem cells (NSCs) can be experimentally derived or induced from different sources, and the NSC systems generated so far are promising tools for basic research and biomedical applications. However, no direct and thorough comparison of their biological and molecular properties or of their physiological relevance and possible relationship to endogenous NSCs has yet been carried out. Here we review the available information on different NSC systems and compare their properties. A better understanding of these systems will be crucial to control NSC fate and functional integration following transplantation and to make NSCs suitable for regenerative efforts following injury or disease
Role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in Huntington's disease
No full textNeurotrophic factors are essential contributors to the survival of peripheral and central nervous system (CNS) neurons, and demonstration of their reduced availability in diseased brains indicates that they play a role in various neurological disorders. This paper will concentrate on the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the survival and activity of the neurons that die in Huntington's disease (HD) by reviewing the evidence indicating that it involves profound changes in BDNF levels and that attempts to restore these levels are therapeutically interesting. BDNF is a small dimeric protein that is widely expressed in adult mammalian brain and has been shown to promote the survival of all major neuronal types affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Furthermore, cortical BDNF production is required for the correct activity of the corticostriatal synapse and the survival of the GABA-ergic medium-sized spiny striatal neurons that die in HD. We will highlight the available data concerning changes in BDNF levels in HD cells, mice and human postmortem samples, describe the molecular evidence underlying this alteration, and review the data concerning the impact of the experimental manipulation of BDNF levels on HD progression. Such studies have revealed a major loss of BDNF protein in the striatum of HD patients which may contribute to the clinical manifestations of the disease. They have also opened up a molecular window into the underlying pathogenic mechanism and new therapeutic perspectives by raising the possibility that one of the mechanisms triggering the reduction in BDNF in HD may also affect the activity of many other neuronal protein
Cholesterol dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases : is Huntington's disease in the list?
No full textBrain cholesterol is an essential component of cell membranes, and involved in a number of biological functions such as membrane trafficking, signal transduction, myelin formation and synaptogenesis. Given these widespread activities and the knowledge that all brain cholesterol derives from local synthesis, it is not surprising that dysfunctions in cholesterol synthesis, storage, transport and removal may lead to human brain diseases. Some of these diseases emerge as a consequence of genetic defects in the enzymes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis; in other cases, such as Alzheimer's disease, there is a link between cholesterol metabolism and the formation and deposition of amyloid-beta peptide. Emerging evidence indicates that changes in cholesterol synthesis may also occur in Huntington's disease, an inherited, autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder that primarily affects striatal neurons of the brain. We here provide an overview of the involvement of cholesterol in normal brain function and its impact on neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, we consider the available clinical, biological and molecular evidence indicating a potential dysregulation of cholesterol homeostasis in Huntington's diseas
Controlling neural stem cell division within the adult subventricular zone: an APPealing job
No full textFor years, scientists investigating amyloid precursor protein (APP) have focused on its pathogenetic role in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. Now, a study by Caille et al. adds new sites of action and new physiological functions for APP. They show that there are binding sites for secreted N-terminal nonamyloidogenic APP (sAPP) on epidermal growth factor (EGF)-responsive neural stem cells in the subventricular zone of the adult brain, where sAPP acts as an EGF cofactor to stimulate proliferation of these cells. This result opens the hypothesis that changes in the levels of sAPP could influence activity of the neurogenic regions of the adult brain in normal and pathological conditions
- …
