Latest Excitotoxicity Stories

New approach reported in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience Studies suggest that neurotrophic factors, which play a role in the development and survival of neurons, have significant therapeutic and restorative potential for neurologic diseases such as Huntington's disease. However, clinical applications are limited because these proteins cannot easily cross the blood brain barrier, have a short half-life, and cause serious side effects. Now, a group of scientists has successfully...

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have discovered a mechanism by which glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common form of brain cancer, promotes the loss of function or death of neurons, a process known as neurodegeneration. The findings could lead to new therapies that suppress neurodegeneration caused by GBM and, potentially, a variety of other neurodegenerative diseases. The study, recently published in...

RUB scientists decipher the role of calcium signals Bochum's neurobiologists have found that certain receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate determine the architecture of nerve cells in the developing brain. Individual receptor variants lead to especially long and branched processes called dendrites, which the cells communicate with. The researchers also showed that the growth-promoting property of the receptors is linked to how much calcium they allow to flow into the cells....

Findings could be used to develop treatments to protect other nerve cell types responsible for speech and movementNeuroscientists have identified a natural protection mechanism in some of the brain's nerve cells during the onset of stroke. The findings, published today [17 August] in the Journal of Neuroscience, could be used to develop treatments to protect other nerve cell types responsible for speech and movement.Stroke "” the third largest cause of death in the UK "” causes disruption...

A protective molecule has been identified in the brain which, if used artificially, may prevent brain damage from the likes of stroke, head injury and Alzheimer's.By looking at what happens in the brain after an injury, new research has finally ended speculation over whether a key molecule, 'KCC2' causes brain cell death after an injury or prevents it. The finding, published today (16th May 2011) in The Journal of Physiology now opens the door to the development of artificial forms of the...

A team of researchers, led by Scott Oakes, at the University of California, San Francisco, has identified a way to prevent symptom onset, weight loss, and paralysis and extend survival in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), providing a new avenue of research for the development of therapeutics for ALS and other motor neuron diseases.ALS and other motor neuron diseases are neurological disorders that selectively affect nerve cells that...

For the first time, research led by Youming Lu, PhD, MD, Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has identified a novel mechanism that may trigger brain damage during stroke and identified a therapeutic approach to block it. The work, funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), both of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as the American Heart...

Biomedical scientists from the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University have identified a way to block a "cell death signal" that they believe triggers brain damage during strokes.Strokes, also known as cerebral ischemia, are caused by inadequate blood flow to the brain and are the third-leading cause of death in the United States.The team's work focused on a neurotransmitter that typically plays an important role in communication among nerve cells in the brain...

A drug already used to treat symptoms of epilepsy has potential to slow the muscle weakening that comes with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), scientists report after completing a Phase II clinical trial"”an early, small-scale test to show if the drug works and continues to be safe.A report online December 4 in the journal Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis says the drug talampanel showed some ability to slow the loss of major daily life activities such as speaking, walking and dressing that...

Better understanding of synaptic activity may support 'use it or lose it' hypothesisInvestigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham), the University of British Columbia's Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics and the University of California, San Diego have found that normal synaptic activity in nerve cells (the electrical activity in the brain that allows nerve cells to communicate with one another) protects the brain from the misfolded proteins associated with...