Sunday, July 11, 2010

Novel Protein as Potential Target in Alzheimer's
( mitochondria are damaged long before the appearance of symptoms)

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"In Alzheimer's disease, there is a protein involved called APP, Amyloid precursor protein. If this protein is mutated, it causes early onset Alzheimer's disease. We don't know exactly what this protein does," Tummala  (SDSU's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences) said. "One thing is very well documented in Alzheimer's disease, mitochondria in a cell are damaged. They lose their function. This happens long before the appearance of symptoms. So there is a theory that mitochondria play a big role in the disease progression."
Mitochondria are membrane-enclosed structures in cells that generate the cell's supply of energy and are involved in processes such as signaling, cell death, cell growth, and possibly aging.
Neurons are special cells in the brain that help the body to carry out functions associated with hearing, seeing, moving, remembering information and learning new things. In Alzheimer's disease neurons that function in learning and memory die. That's why Alzheimer's disease symptoms include memory loss and the other behavioral cognitive problems. Tummala said he and his colleagues' important finding shows that APP binds to the mitochondrial protein, NIPSNAP1. NIPSNAP1 is specifically seen in neurons, and it may have a role in neuronal death in Alzheimer's disease. "Taken together, our data suggest that APP directly interacts with the neuron-specific mitochondrial protein NIPSNAP1 and may thereby regulate mitochondrial function in neurons," the scientists note in their journal article. Read moresciencedaily.com

TODAY'S PHOTO    
  

Cocoa repairs blood vessels in CVD patients
Cocoa flavanols could improve poor blood vessel function in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), according to research by a team of researchers, including scientists from confectionery maker, Mars Inc.  Read morenutraingredients.com

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