Fw: [arubyrogers] MIT: Missing protein may be key to autism

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MIT: Missing protein may be key to autism

U.S. medical scientists suggest a missing brain protein may

be one of the causes of autism and other brain disorders.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's

Picower Institute for Learning and Memory said the protein

helps synapses develop, underlying our ability to learn and

remember. Now neuroscience Professor Li-Huei Tsai and

colleagues have identified an enzyme that's key to that

protein's activity. Tsai studies a kinase called Cdk5. While

Cdk5's best-known role is to help new neurons form and migrate

to their correct positions during brain development, new

evidence shows Cdk5 interacts with synapse-inducing proteins --

in particular, a protein called CASK. Mutations in the genes

responsible for Cdk5 and CASK have been linked with mental

retardation. " We found Cdk5 is critical for recruiting CASK

to do its job for developing synapses, " Tsai said. " Without

Cdk5, CASK was not in the right place at the right time, and

failed to interact with essential presynaptic components. This,

in turn, led to problems with calcium influx. " The study,

reported in the journal Neuron, also provides the first

molecular explanation of how Cdk5, which also may go awry

in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, promotes

synapse development.

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