Scientists find gene clue to 130 brain diseases

[Guest guest]

Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2010 9:15 PM

Subject: Scientists find gene clue to 130 brain diseases

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.e3e5f80d414a6156c689824808235ca9.261\

& show_article=1

Scientists on Sunday said they had discovered a bouquet of proteins that play a

critical role in the development of more than 130 brain diseases.

Their study also highlights a surprising link between these disorders --

including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's -- and the evolution of human behaviour,

they said.

The human brain is a labyrinth of millions of specialised nerve cells

interconnected by billions of electrical and chemical pathways called synapses.

Within these synapses are proteins that combine together, forming a molecular

machine known as the post-synaptic density, or PSD, which is believed to disrupt

synaptic functioning, causing disease and behavioural change.

Reporting in the journal Nature Neuroscience, Seth Grant of Britain's Wellcome

Trust Sanger Institute led a team that extracted PSDs from synapses of patients

undergoing brain surgery.

" We found over 130 brain diseases involve the PSD -- far more than expected, "

said Grant. " The human PSD is at centre stage of a large range of human diseases

affecting millions of people. "

Besides common and debilitating neurodegenerative disorders, these include

epilepsies and childhood development diseases such as autism.

The PSDs identified so far come from combinations of 1,461 proteins, each

encoded by a separate gene.

" We now have a comprehensive molecular playlist of 1,000 suspects, " noted

Neobels, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, commenting

on the study.

" Every seventh protein in this line-up is involved in a known clinical disorder,

and over half of them are repeat offenders. "

The findings open several news paths toward tackling these illnesses, including

better diagnosis, the authors said.

To help accelerate this goal, the researchers have released all their data into

the public domain, and created the first-ever " molecular roadmap " for human

synapses showing how proteins and diseases interconnect.

" We can also see ways to develop new genetic diagnostic tests and help doctors

classify the brain diseases, " Grant said.

Unexpectedly, the study also revealed the proteins in PSDs have deep

evolutionary roots and play an indirect role in cognitive behaviours such as

learning and memory, as well as emotion and mood.

Compared with other gene-encoded proteins, the PSD proteins evolved much more

slowly.

" The conservation of the structure of these proteins suggests that the

behaviours governed by the PSD and the diseases associated with them have not

changed much over many millions of years, " Grant said.

It also shows that the synapses in rodents are more similar to humans than

previously thought, suggesting that mice and rats are good models for examining

human brain disease, he said.

Brain disease and disorders are the leading cause of medical disability in the

developed world, according to the UN's World Health Organization.

[Guest guest]

Interesting article, but there is not one mention, at least in this

summary, of environmental causes of these diseases....for example,

sherry rogers in detox or die says they expose mice to pesticides to

give them parkinsons so they can test new parkinsons drugs. sue v

>Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2010 9:15 PM

>Subject: Scientists find gene clue to 130 brain diseases

>

>

>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?

>id=CNG.e3e5f80d414a6156c689824808235ca9.261 & show_article=1

>

>

>Scientists on Sunday said they had discovered a bouquet of proteins that

>play a critical role in the development of more than 130 brain diseases.

>Their study also highlights a surprising link between these disorders --

[Guest guest]

Sue: There is always a first step. The first step is to identify the injury

site (proteins) and then look at specifics. Parkinson, Alzheimer, Autism, toxic

encephalopathy among others are now recognized as environmentally induced.

Scientists find gene clue to 130 brain diseases

>

>

>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?

>id=CNG.e3e5f80d414a6156c689824808235ca9.261 & show_article=1

>

>

>Scientists on Sunday said they had discovered a bouquet of proteins that

>play a critical role in the development of more than 130 brain diseases.

>Their study also highlights a surprising link between these disorders --