Scientists 'Switch Off' Brain Cell Death In Mice

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Scientists 'Switch Off' Brain Cell Death In Mice

Posted by Soulskill on Monday May 7, 2012 @05:09AM from the are-you-pondering-what-i'm-pondering dept.

fishmike sends this excerpt from a Reuters report: "Scientists have figured out how to stop brain cell death in mice with brain disease and say their discovery deepens understanding of the mechanisms of human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. British researchers writing in the journal Nature (abstract) said they had found a major pathway leading to brain cell death in mice with prion disease, the mouse equivalent of Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (CJD). ... Mallucci's team found that the buildup of mis-folded proteins in the brains of mice with prion disease activated a natural defense mechanism in cells, which switches off the production of new proteins. This would normally switch back on again, the researchers explained, but in these ill mice the continued build-up of misshapen proteins keeps the switch turned off. This is the trigger point leading to brain cell death, because key proteins essential for cell survival are not made. By injecting a protein that blocks the "off" switch, the scientists were able to restore the production of the survival proteins and halt the neurodegeneration."

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I for one welcome our new rodent overlords by SirGarlon · 2012-05-07 05:17 · Score: 4, Interesting

First we had mice with enhanced brain development. Now, immortality! If those two research teams ever cross-breed their lab animals it will be like Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

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[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
1. Re:I for one welcome our new rodent overlords by BagOBones · 2012-05-07 05:20 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I was thinking it is more like the plot to The Secret of NIMH
  
  --
  EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
2. Re:I for one welcome our new rodent overlords by SirGarlon · 2012-05-07 05:41 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Yeah, I thought of that too. :-) Slightly off-topic, but you should check out the book; I think it is considerably better than the movie.
  
  --
  [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
3. Re:I for one welcome our new rodent overlords by __aaeihw9960 · 2012-05-07 06:23 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  This is the second reference to the Secret of Nimh I've seen on /. today (damnit, I can't find the other one).
  It's a bit unnerving. I feel like there will be an announcement about a remake before too long.
  So help me, if there is, I'm done with this site.
There for a reason by virgnarus · 2012-05-07 05:20 · Score: 2

I'm aware that the "off" switch is there for a reason, and forcing it to stay inactive is probably going to have some nasty side effects. Am I correct in this?
Pardon my lack of complete knowledge here. I'm just IT for a cancer genomics group that just picks up stuff here and there. So I'm a bit aware that there's several points in a pathway that can be blocked, with each causing its own share of symptoms. Just simply blocking the entire "off" switch - which I would assume is a pretty deep pathway - would probably cause as much harm as it would help, wouldn't it?
1. Re:There for a reason by sideslash · 2012-05-07 05:22 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It seems like cell immortality basically equals cancer elsewhere in the body. Maybe since brain cells are not orginarily regenerated, longevity won't cause a direct problem?
2. Re:There for a reason by girlintraining · 2012-05-07 05:28 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Pardon my lack of complete knowledge here. I'm just IT for a cancer genomics group that just picks up stuff here and there. So I'm a bit aware that there's several points in a pathway that can be blocked, with each causing its own share of symptoms. Just simply blocking the entire "off" switch - which I would assume is a pretty deep pathway - would probably cause as much harm as it would help, wouldn't it?
  Well, the prions don't stop being manufactured... so basically, those proteins continue to be generated until the person dies, and possibly beyond then. They can't be sterilized by any method known short of nuking them... prions are damn near indestructible. And we're tinkering with inactivating the only biological mechanism to halt their spread in the population.
  
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  #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
3. Re:There for a reason by interkin3tic · 2012-05-07 07:13 · Score: 2
  
  There's a lot of "pruning," where many brain cells die as the brain is being formed. The thinking, as far as I've heard, is that you want neurons that aren't properly connected to die off, or else you'll get chaos. A damaged neuron could also potentially be giving aberrant signals that could mess up the system as well.
4. Re:There for a reason by jdavidb · 2012-05-07 08:08 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  You solve one problem, you create more problems. Then you work on solving those.
  Living past 30 created a whole mess of new health issues. Living past 50 created many more. Now many of us live to 80 and beyond, and we are dealing with new health problems like the degeneration of the brain, problems our forebears never had to face.
  I for one am thrilled that we are faced with these problems, and it would be wonderful to see the list of problems that come up when neuron death is turned off to see if anyone can come up with a useful way of solving those problems.
  
  --
  Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
Interesting... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2012-05-07 05:21 · Score: 5, Interesting

Any word, as yet, on what eventually happens to the cells thus saved from early death?

Obviously, having your neurons die isn't a win; but the buildup of malformed proteins that started the shutdown process is presumably still developing if you bring protein synthesis back online.

Are the malformed proteins not a serious issue, so long as the spurious shutdown signal is ignored, or do they eventually hose the cell as well?
1. Re:Interesting... by ColdWetDog · 2012-05-07 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Any word, as yet, on what eventually happens to the cells thus saved from early death?
  Hard to say. It's a complicated, limited, experimental model using a fairly aggressive prion (infection to death in 12 weeks) so ringing this out to the slower neurodegenerative diseases in humans is a bit of stretch and likely limited by a number of caveats. They did find a 'window' of ability to rescue the cells - after around 9 weeks the rescue didn't work. But it did increase 'survival' in the mice so it's possible that it would have a clinically useful improvement in other similar diseases (assuming lots of things).
  Remember, Prion disease in humans tends to be a very slow process. Timing could well be reflected in different mechanisms. Or not. This is really just an opening wedge rather than a robust look into the process.
  
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  Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
2. Re:Interesting... by Daetrin · 2012-05-07 06:08 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  "Any mouse neurodevelopmental geneticists in the audience?"
  
  Squeak! Squeak squeak squeak squeakums. Squeak squeak squeaker squeak!
  
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  This Space Intentionally Left Blank
With all these mouse experiments... by 3seas · 2012-05-07 05:26 · Score: 2

...you have to wonder... are they trying to make real the Bairn of Pinky and the Brain?
1. Re:With all these mouse experiments... by boristdog · 2012-05-07 05:33 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Uh-oh. Better get your prion buildup checked!
Re:I'm a bit out of the loop... by ColdWetDog · 2012-05-07 05:45 · Score: 3, Informative

It's complicated
tl;dr Maybe yes, maybe no. Likely there is something Prion like in Alzheimer's dementia. Cause or effect is uncertain. More research needed. Stay tuned.

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Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Zombie Apocalypse Averted! Maybe... by kiehlster · 2012-05-07 06:06 · Score: 2

Sounds like injecting this stuff into zombies could eliminate their craving for fresh brains. Either that or we've equivalently turned our own brains from dry cat food to premium canned cat food.