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Scientists 'Switch Off' Brain Cell Death In Mice
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."
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!
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
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?
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?
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.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Uh-oh. Better get your prion buildup checked!
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.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
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.