Recent advances in neuroscience research have shed light on the importance of microglia in removing harmful debris from the brain, but UVA's new discovery offers practical insights into how this cleaning process occurs - and the dire consequences when it doesn't. Many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's and MS, are thought to be caused by the brain's inability to cleanse itself of toxic buildup. "Our work further shows that targeting this novel pathway provides a potent strategy to eliminate the toxic culprits that cause memory loss and impaired motor control in neurodegenerative disease." In our studies, we have discovered a master controller of the cell type and processes that are required to protect the brain from these disorders," said senior researcher John Lukens, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine and its Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG), as well as the Carter Immunology Center and the UVA Brain Institute.
"Unfortunately, medical doctors do not currently possess effective treatments to target the root causes of most neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or ALS. UVA's important new findings could one day let doctors augment the activity of microglia to treat or protect patients from Alzheimer's, MS and other neurodegenerative diseases, the researchers report. These immune cells were once largely ignored by scientists but have, in recent years, proved vital players in brain health. It does this, the researchers showed, by directing the activity of brain cleaners called microglia. The molecule the researchers identified, called a kinase, is crucial to both removing plaque buildup associated with Alzheimer's and preventing the debris buildup that causes MS, the researchers found.
0 kommentar(er)
