mGluR5 and Fragile-X Syndrome (FXS)
Conclusions:This study was the first to identify upregulation of mGluR5 density and expression in the prefrontal cortex of FXS patients or carriers compared to an age- and sex-matched control group. This is consistent with several studies in FXS model mice that postulate that the syndromic features of FXS are caused by an upregulated mGluR5 signaling pathway. Although the sample size was relatively small and the results could be secondary to prior medication treatment, these initial findings provide strong rationale for measuring mGluR5 in live patients using PET. Such in-vivo studies could measure mGluR5 in all brain regi...
Source: Neuromics - June 6, 2013 Category: Neuroscience Tags: ; mGluR Human Cortex Metabotropic glutamate receptor type 5 Western Blot Fragile X mental retardation Metabotropic glutamate receptor; mGluR5 Western Blotting FXS Source Type: news
Abnormal Brain Networks Found In Fragile X Syndrome
The genetic malady known as Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of inherited autism and intellectual disability. Brain scientists know the gene defect that causes the syndrome and understand the damage it does in misshaping the brain's synapses - the connections between neurons. But how this abnormal shaping of synapses translates into abnormal behavior is unclear. Now, researchers at UCLA believe they know. Using a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), they recorded the activity of networks of neurons in a living mouse brain while the animal was awake and asleep... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - June 6, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Autism Source Type: news
Common gene known to cause inherited autism now linked to specific behaviors
The genetic malady known as Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of inherited autism and intellectual disability. Brain scientists know the gene defect that causes the syndrome and understand the damage it does in misshaping the brain's synapses — the connections between neurons. But how this abnormal shaping of synapses translates into abnormal behavior is unclear.
Now, researchers at UCLA believe they know. Using a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome (FXS), they recorded the activity of networks of neurons in a living mouse brain while the animal was awake and asleep. They found that during both sleep a...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 3, 2013 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Characterizing Social Behavior in Genetically Targeted Mouse Models of Brain Disorders
Fragile X syndrome, the leading inherited cause of mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders worldwide, is caused by a tandem repeat expansion in the FMR1 (fragile X mental retardation 1) gene. It presents with a distinct behavioral phenotype which overlaps significantly with that of autism. Emerging evidence suggests that tandem repeat polymorphisms (TRPs) might also play a key role in modulating disease susceptibility for a range of common polygenic disorders, including the broader autism spectrum of disorders (ASD) and other forms of psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder [1]....
Source: Springer protocols feed by Genetics/Genomics - June 3, 2013 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: news
Common gene known to cause inherited autism now linked to specific behaviors
(University of California - Los Angeles) Using a mouse model of fragile X syndrome (FXS) -- the genetic malady that is the most common inherited cause of autism -- researchers at UCLA found that the mouse neuronal networks showed too much activity, firing too often and in synch, much more than a normal brain. This neuronal excitability may also be the basis for symptoms in children with FXS. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - June 3, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Old Antibiotic May Improve Behavior, Mood in Fragile X KidsOld Antibiotic May Improve Behavior, Mood in Fragile X Kids
An old, and widely used, broad-spectrum antibiotic may provide meaningful clinical improvement in behavior and mood disturbances in children with fragile X syndrome. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - April 17, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Psychiatry News Source Type: news
Antibiotic Helps Fragile X Kids (CME/CE)
(MedPage Today) -- Treatment with minocycline led to significant, though limited, improvements in children with fragile X syndrome, a randomized study found. (Source: MedPage Today Pediatrics)
Source: MedPage Today Pediatrics - April 11, 2013 Category: Pediatrics Source Type: news
Minocycline Show Benefits In Children With Inherited Cause Of Intellectual Disability And Autism
The antibiotic drug minocycline yields "modest" but meaningful improvements in functioning and mood for children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), reports a study in the April Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health. Three months of treatment with minocycline in children with FXS resulted in greater overall improvement than placebo treatment, according to the study by Dr Mary Jacena S... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - April 10, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Autism Source Type: news
Brain Cells Talk Too Much In Fragile X
The most common inherited form of mental retardation and autism, fragile X syndrome, turns some brain cells into chatterboxes, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. The extra talk may make it harder for brain cells to identify and attend to important signals, potentially establishing an intriguing parallel at the cellular level to the attention problems seen in autism. According to the researchers, understanding the effects of this altered signaling will be important to developing successful treatments for fragile X and autism... (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - February 22, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Autism Source Type: news
MIND Institute researchers receive $1 million grant to study cognitive training in fragile X
(University of California - Davis Health System) Researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute will examine whether children and youth with fragile X syndrome can improve their working memory, cognition and behavior by using an online computer-based cognitive training program, through a new one million dollar grant from the John Merck Fund. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - February 13, 2013 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
