Amino Acids in Cancer Metabolism and Neuroscience

These Building Blocks Could Be Valuable Tools for Research

Amino acids are important building blocks for protein synthesis and are also intermediary metabolites that fuel biosynthetic reactions, thus playing a dual role in cellular metabolism. Accurate quantification of L-amino acids in body fluids or purified samples may provide valuable information for diagnostic and basic research studies.

Cellular Roles of Amino Acids in Cancer and Neurobiology

Cancer cells have altered metabolism and are known for their metabolic abnormalities. One example is the Warburg effect, in which there is increased glycolytic activity even in the presence of oxygen. Cancer cells depend on a high rate of aerobic glycolysis for continued growth and survival.

Read more: Amino Acids in Cancer Metabolism and Neuroscience

Figure 1. Glutamine and the metabolism of other amino acids as targets for cancer therapy.

[Int J Mol Sci 2015;16:22830–22855; doi:10.3390/ijms160922830]

Source: genengnews

Side Effects of Alzheimer's Gene Visible in Child Brain Development

Certain genes increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The side effects of the most common of these genes, apolipoprotein E, may be evident as early as in childhood, a study finds.

Genetic risks are just one of the factors that may increase or decrease a person's chances of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), along with age and family history.

While the symptoms of the rarer early-onset AD - representing less than 5 percent of people with the disease - can appear from the age of 30, the symptoms of the more common type, late-onset AD, is apparent over the age of 65.

This study, published in the online issue of Neurology, finds that the effects of the AD gene apolipoprotein E (APOE) may possibly be seen before the age of 20.

Read more: Side Effects of Alzheimer's Gene Visible in Child Brain Development

Studying genes in childhood that increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease may possibly
help experts develop ways of delaying the disease.

Source: medicalnewstoday

Dopamine Neuron Discovery Might Revolutionize Parkinson’s Treatments

Northwestern University researchers say they have identified the neurochemical signal likely missing in Parkinson’s disease. They reportedly discovered two distinctly different kinds of neurons that deliver dopamine to an important brain region responsible for both movement and learning/reward behavior.

“It has been dogma for decades that all dopamine neurons are somehow involved in both movement and reward, but this didn’t really make sense,” said Daniel A. Dombeck, Ph.D., the study’s senior author. “Now, it is so obvious in our recordings that there are different kinds of neurons. We can literally see this in behaving animals. Our findings will likely help answer many questions about Parkinson’s disease and other neurological mysteries.”

Read more: Dopamine Neuron Discovery Might Revolutionize Parkinson’s Treatments

Source: genengnews

Harvard scientists are stunned by superhuman abilities of Himalayan monks.

Most of us have a fairly good idea that brains of Buddhist monks function far beyond most humans’ capabilities and that the monks can actually rewire their brains. While there is no question that Buddhist monks possess superhuman powers, how they do some really incredible out-of-this-world kind of stuff continues to fascinate and show scientists what we – ‘normal human beings’ – can all do.

Professor Herbert Benson and his team of researchers from the Harvard School Of Medicine went to remote monasteries in the Himalayan mountains in the 1980′s to discover, decode, and document the subtle ways through which the monks manipulate their bodies – like raising the temperatures of their fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees, and lowering their body’s metabolic rate by up to 64% – using a stress reduction yoga technique called ‘g Tum-mo’.

The Harvard research team also recorded monks drying cold, wet sheets with body heat. They also documented monks spending a winter night – when temperatures reached zero degrees F – on a rocky ledge 15,000 feet high in the Himalayas — wearing only woolen or cotton shawls. These remarkable feats, the Harvard research team observed, were achieved by intense daily meditations, guided exercises and spiritual conditioning.

Read more: Harvard scientists are stunned by superhuman abilities of Himalayan monks.

Source: anonhq

Neuroimmunology of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neuroinflammatory condition that affects the central nervous system and presents with various neurological and cognitive symptoms. Although these symptoms and the disease course of MS can vary considerably among affected individuals, most people with this condition exhibit a progressive accumulation of disability in the later phase of the disease.

This poster provides an overview of the pathophysiological contributions of both the immune system and the nervous system to MS and how these contributions change with disease progression. The poster also highlights the sites of action of the currently available drugs for MS and briefly touches on other therapeutic strategies that are being explored.

Calliope A. Dendrou, Robin J. Franklin and Lars Fugger

View poster: Neuroimmunology of multiple sclerosis (high-resolution PDF (1.30 MB))

Source: nature.com