Ironjustic
Mon, Nov-05-07, 06:15
"phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate"
Scientists discover new causes for neurodegeneration Medical
Science News Published: Sunday, 28-Oct-2007
Diseases that cause neurons to break-down, such as
Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(Mad Cow Disease), continue to be elusive to scientists and
resistant to treatments. A new finding from University of
Michigan researchers demonstrates an unpredicted link between
a virtually unknown signaling molecule and neuron health.
In a study released in PNAS, the journal of the National
Academy of Sciences this week, graduate student, Yanling
Zhang, postdoctoral fellow Sergey Zolov and Life Sciences
Institute professor Lois Weisman connect the loss of this
molecule to massive neurodegeneration in the brain.
The molecule PI(3,5)P2 is a lipid found in all cells at very
low levels. Lipids are a group of small organic compounds.
While the best studied lipids are fats, waxes and oils,
PI3,5P2 is a member of a unique class of lipids that signal
the cell to perform special tasks.
Weisman said it was surprising to find that PI(3,5)P2 plays a
key role in the survival of nervous system cells.
"In mice, lowered levels of PI(3,5)P2 leads to profound
neurodegeneration," said Weisman. "It suggests that we have a
good place to look to find treatments for neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer's."
Weisman, who is also professor of Cell & Developmental Biology
at the U-M Medical School and her colleagues, began from clues
that were hidden in a conserved genetic pathway in yeast (a
pathway that has remained the same in yeast, plants and humans
over evolutionary time). Studies in yeast showed that the
enzyme that manufactures the lipid is governed by the FIG4 and
VAC14 genes, which exist in yeast, mice and humans.
Working with two independently derived mouse models,
Weisman's team and collaborators including graduate student
Clement Chow and Professor Miriam Meisler of the Department
of Human Genetics at the U- M Medical School, reached the
same conclusions in a pair of important papers for
neuroscience research.
Building on research from Meisler, a mouse geneticist, and
Weisman, a yeast geneticist, the collaborators published a
paper in Nature, July 5, 2007, showing that in mice, the FIG4
gene is required to maintain normal levels of the signaling
lipid and to maintain a normal nervous system. Importantly,
they found that human patients with a very minor defect in
their FIG4 genes had serious neurological problems.
The signaling lipid PI(3,5)P2 (short for phosphatidylinositol
3,5- bisphosphate) is part of a communication cascade that
senses changes outside the cell and promotes actions inside
the cell to accommodate to the changes.
Weisman's team found that mice missing the VAC14 gene, which
encodes a regulator of PI(3,5)P2 levels, suffer massive
neurodegeneration that looks nearly identical to the
neurodegeneration seen in the FIG4 mutant mice. In both cases
the levels of PI(3,5)P2 are one half of the normal levels. The
fact that both mice have half the normal levels of the lipid
and also have the same neurodegenerative problems provides
evidence that there is a direct link between the lipid and
neuronal health.
The new findings indicate that when Vac14 is removed, the cell
bodies of many of the neurons appear to be empty spaces and
the brain takes on a spongiform appearance.
http://www.umich.edu/
Who loves ya. Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore! http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk
Scientists discover new causes for neurodegeneration Medical
Science News Published: Sunday, 28-Oct-2007
Diseases that cause neurons to break-down, such as
Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
(Mad Cow Disease), continue to be elusive to scientists and
resistant to treatments. A new finding from University of
Michigan researchers demonstrates an unpredicted link between
a virtually unknown signaling molecule and neuron health.
In a study released in PNAS, the journal of the National
Academy of Sciences this week, graduate student, Yanling
Zhang, postdoctoral fellow Sergey Zolov and Life Sciences
Institute professor Lois Weisman connect the loss of this
molecule to massive neurodegeneration in the brain.
The molecule PI(3,5)P2 is a lipid found in all cells at very
low levels. Lipids are a group of small organic compounds.
While the best studied lipids are fats, waxes and oils,
PI3,5P2 is a member of a unique class of lipids that signal
the cell to perform special tasks.
Weisman said it was surprising to find that PI(3,5)P2 plays a
key role in the survival of nervous system cells.
"In mice, lowered levels of PI(3,5)P2 leads to profound
neurodegeneration," said Weisman. "It suggests that we have a
good place to look to find treatments for neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer's."
Weisman, who is also professor of Cell & Developmental Biology
at the U-M Medical School and her colleagues, began from clues
that were hidden in a conserved genetic pathway in yeast (a
pathway that has remained the same in yeast, plants and humans
over evolutionary time). Studies in yeast showed that the
enzyme that manufactures the lipid is governed by the FIG4 and
VAC14 genes, which exist in yeast, mice and humans.
Working with two independently derived mouse models,
Weisman's team and collaborators including graduate student
Clement Chow and Professor Miriam Meisler of the Department
of Human Genetics at the U- M Medical School, reached the
same conclusions in a pair of important papers for
neuroscience research.
Building on research from Meisler, a mouse geneticist, and
Weisman, a yeast geneticist, the collaborators published a
paper in Nature, July 5, 2007, showing that in mice, the FIG4
gene is required to maintain normal levels of the signaling
lipid and to maintain a normal nervous system. Importantly,
they found that human patients with a very minor defect in
their FIG4 genes had serious neurological problems.
The signaling lipid PI(3,5)P2 (short for phosphatidylinositol
3,5- bisphosphate) is part of a communication cascade that
senses changes outside the cell and promotes actions inside
the cell to accommodate to the changes.
Weisman's team found that mice missing the VAC14 gene, which
encodes a regulator of PI(3,5)P2 levels, suffer massive
neurodegeneration that looks nearly identical to the
neurodegeneration seen in the FIG4 mutant mice. In both cases
the levels of PI(3,5)P2 are one half of the normal levels. The
fact that both mice have half the normal levels of the lipid
and also have the same neurodegenerative problems provides
evidence that there is a direct link between the lipid and
neuronal health.
The new findings indicate that when Vac14 is removed, the cell
bodies of many of the neurons appear to be empty spaces and
the brain takes on a spongiform appearance.
http://www.umich.edu/
Who loves ya. Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore! http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk