Phosphorylated TDP-43 in Muscle as a Biomarker for ALS
TDP-43 is one of the proteins more recently discovered to become phosphorylated and form harmful aggregates in aged tissues. These aggregates are connected to a range of neurodegenerative conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Researchers here discuss a novel way to use TDP-43 as a biomarker for the early onset of ALS. Being able to quantify the progression of neurodegenerative conditions in their early stages is a necessary part of the development of effective means of prevention.
Clinicians diagnose ALS based on deteriorating motor function, such as weakness in the arms or legs or difficulty ...
Source: Fight Aging! - June 20, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Science Snippet: RNA ’s Remarkable Roles
RNA, though less well known than its cousin DNA, is equally integral to our bodies. RNA molecules are long, usually single-stranded chains of nucleotides. (DNA molecules are also made up of nucleotides but are typically double-stranded.) There are three major types of RNA, which are all involved in protein synthesis:
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is complementary to one of the DNA strands of a gene and carries genetic information for protein synthesis to the ribosome—the molecular complex in which proteins are made.Transfer RNA (tRNA) works with mRNA to make sure the right amin...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - May 18, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Matt Mills Tags: Cells Injury and Illness Cellular Processes RNA Science Snippet Source Type: blogs
Pithiatism Redux
BY MARTIN SAMUELS
Those of us in medicine have all seen the famous painting of the Tuesday afternoon lessons at the Salpȇtrière in Paris in the 19th century. In Pierre Aristide André Brouillet’s painting, one can clearly see the great professor, Jean-Martin Charcot, holding forth while the patient, Blanche Whitman, is being supported by a tall young man, Joseph Jules Francois Felix Babinski, the Chef de Clinique (the chief resident) and allegedly the favorite to succeed Charcot. He never did as he was failed repeatedly on the exam necessary to become a faculty member at the university by a jealous, xenophobic, anti...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 25, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Medical Practice Patients Physicians Andre Brouillet Martin Samuels Mental Health Patient Care Pithiatism Source Type: blogs
Science Snippet: Get to Know Your Nerve Cells!
Nerve cells, also known as neurons, carry information through our bodies using electrical impulses and chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. A nerve cell’s size and shape depend on its role and location, but nearly all nerve cells have three main parts:
Dendrites that extend like branches and receive signalsA cell body containing the nucleus that holds the genetic material of the cell and controls its actionsAn axon, a long structure that transmits messages
A typical nerve cell. Credit: iStock.
The human body contains billions of interconnected nerve cells that carry information to, within, and from ...
Source: Biomedical Beat Blog - National Institute of General Medical Sciences - February 23, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Chrissa Chverchko Tags: Cells Cellular Processes Science Snippet Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 7th 2022
In this study, we used accelerometer measurements (1) to examine the association of physical activity and mortality in a population-based sample of US adults and (2) to estimate the number of deaths prevented annually with modest increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) intensity.
This analysis included 4,840 participants. Increasing MVPA by 10, 20, or 30 minutes per day was associated with a 6.9%, 13.0%, and 16.9% decrease in the number of deaths per year, respectively. We estimated that approximately 110,000 deaths per year could be prevented if US adults aged 40 to 85 years or older increased th...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 6, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Towards Clinical Trials for ISRIB
ISRIB has for some years been under investigation as a way to reduce the impact of neurodegeneration and improve cognitive function. It is one of a number of small molecule approaches to upregulate forms of cellular housekeeping, the unfolded protein response in this case. More cellular maintenance in principle means a lower burden of molecular damage and cellular dysfunction at any given time. Since most of these maintenance processes appear to decline in efficacy with age, improvement is a compensatory strategy that might help. In many cases exercise produces more impressive effects than the present state of the art in p...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 31, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 31st 2022
In conclusion, the effects of MR on the gut barrier were likely related to alleviation of the oscillations of inflammation-related microbes. MR can enable nutritional intervention against age-related gut barrier dysfunction.
Clearing Senescent Cells from the Neural Stem Cell Niche Rapidly Improves Neurogenesis in Old Mice
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2022/01/clearing-senescent-cells-from-the-neural-stem-cell-niche-rapidly-improves-neurogenesis-in-old-mice/
Neurogenesis is the generation of new neurons in the brain, and their integration into existing neural circuits. It is essential to learning a...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 30, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Digging Deeper into Ribosomal Dysfunction in Aging
A ribosome performs the translation portion of the process of gene expression, assembling protein molecules from amino acid building blocks according to the blueprint provided by messenger RNA molecules. The more efficiently a ribosome operates, the better a cell functions. Like all cellular components, the ribosome is negatively impacted by age, leading to a greater rate of errors in protein manufacture. The causes of this decline are not well understood, at least when it comes to drawing a clear line of causation back to the root causes of aging. It is perhaps noteworthy that long-lived naked mole rats have evolved unusu...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 26, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
TDP-43 Implicated in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
TDP-43 is one of the more recently discovered problem proteins in the aging brain, capable of misfolding and aggregating in ways that promote neurodegeneration and the onset of dementia. This occurs to at least some degree in all older individuals, but where this aggregation is particularly pronounced it can give rise to conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here, researchers report on their investigations of the biochemistry of this dysfunction, providing further evidence for TDP-43 aggregation to cause the onset and progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Mislocalization of the predominantly nu...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 25, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 25th 2021
This study confirmed that the PSI could be a quantitative index of vascular aging and has potential for use in inferring arterial stiffness with an advantage over the rAIx.
A Profile of Michael Greve and the Segment of the Longevity Industry that He Supports
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2021/10/a-profile-of-michael-greve-and-the-segment-of-the-longevity-industry-that-he-supports/
Would that the popular media produced more popular science articles about the longevity industry like this one. It is not just a profile of someone trying to make a difference in the world by advancing the state of medic...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 24, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Loss of Beneficial Microglial Function in Alzheimer's Disease
In this study, we performed RNA sequencing of microglia isolated from three representative neurodegenerative mouse models, AppNL-G-F/NL-G-F with amyloid pathology, rTg4510 with tauopathy, and SOD1G93A with motor neuron disease. In parallel, gene expression patterns of the human precuneus with early Alzheimer's change (n = 11) and control brain (n = 14) were also analyzed by RNA sequencing.
We found that a substantial reduction of homeostatic microglial genes in rTg4510 and SOD1G93A microglia, whereas DAM genes were uniformly upregulated in all mouse models. The reduction of homeostatic microglial genes was c...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 22, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, October 4th 2021
In conclusion, premature thymic involution and chronic inflammation greatly contribute to increased morbidity and mortality in CKD patients. Mechanisms are likely to be multiple and interlinked. Even when the quest to fountain of youth is a pipe dream, there are many scientific opportunities to prevent or to, at least in part, reverse CKD-related immune senescence. Further studies should precisely define most important pathways driving premature immune ageing in CKD patients and best therapeutic options to control them.
Extending Life Without Extending Health: Vast Effort Directed to the Wrong Goals
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Source: Fight Aging! - October 3, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Harmful and Beneficial Roles for the Adaptive Immune System in Neurodegenerative Conditions
To a first approximation, cells of the adaptive immune system are barred from the brain by the blood-brain barrier. This is only a first approximation, however, and more careful research has shown that a small number of adaptive immune cells do in fact enter the brain. This appears to be the case throughout life, a part of the normal interaction between immune system and central nervous system. The presence of adaptive immune cells in the brain in later life is also thought to be pathological, however, the result of age-related dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier, allowing unwanted cells into the brain to cause harm.
...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 28, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 16th 2021
In conclusion, cancer survivors, especially older individuals, demonstrate greater odds of and accelerated functional decline, suggesting that cancer and/or its treatment may alter aging trajectories.
Linking Particulate Air Pollution and Dementia in a Small Region of the US
https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2021/08/linking-particulate-air-pollution-and-dementia-in-a-small-region-of-the-us/
It is fairly settled that evident particulate air pollution, such as daily exposure to smoke from wood-fueled cooking fires, has a strongly detrimental effect on long-term health. The mechanisms involved are inflam...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 15, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Linking TDP-43 Dysfunction, Cholesterol, and Maintenance of Myelin in Neurodegeneration
TDP-43 is one of the few proteins in the body that can misfold in ways that lead to solid aggregates that disrupt cell and tissue function. The biochemistry and relevance of TDP-43 is a more recent area of research in comparison to the study of, say, amyloid-β in Alzheimer's disease and α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease, but it appears important to the progression of a number of neurodegenerative conditions. Researchers here elaborate on the relationship between TDP-43 and age-related demyelination, the corrosion of myelin sheathing around axons that is necessary for nervous system function, normally maintained by a pop...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 11, 2021 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
