http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A protein that has shown early promise in preventing the loss of muscle function in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, has been found in a new study to be a key player in the process of joining nerves to muscles. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-nerve-muscle-biglycan.html Neuroscience Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:00:01 EST news248438264 Researchers at the Salk Institute have discovered a startling feature of early brain development that helps to explain how complex neuron wiring patterns are programmed using just a handful of critical genes. The findings, published February 3 in Cell, may help scientists develop new therapies for neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and provide insight into certain cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-complex-wiring-nervous-genes-proteins.html Medical research Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15:30 EST news248112920 Repeated, low-dose injections of mononuclear cells derived from human umbilical cord blood (MNC hUCB, tradename: U-CORD-CELL) have been found effective in protecting motor neuron cells, delaying disease progression and increasing lifespan for mice modeling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, report University of South Florida researchers and colleagues from Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., and the Ribeirao Preto School of Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-additional-benefits-cord-blood-cells.html Medical research Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:56:42 EST news247744594 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) is an incurable adult neurodegenerative disorder that progresses to paralysis and death. Genetic mutations are the cause of disease in 5% of patients with ALS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-disease-halted-rat-lou-gehrig.html Medical research Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:03 EST news242905844 (Medical Xpress) -- Walking or movement in general, comes so naturally to us, yet it results from a sophisticated interplay between the nervous system and muscles. Little is known about the neuronal blueprint that ensures the regulation of functionally opposing motor actions, which in turn are responsible for all movement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-anatomical-blueprint-motor-antagonism.html Neuroscience Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:59:46 EST news238305578 Researchers in Uruguay and Oregon have discovered a previously unknown type of neural cell that appears to be closely linked to the progression of amytrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, that they believe will provide an important new approach to therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-lou-gehrig-disease.html Medical research Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:00:11 EST news238080193 A new study from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) reports surprising results that suggest that the devastating neuromuscular disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), might not exclusively affect the motor neurons in the spinal cord as has long been thought. The new findings suggest that defects in peripheral tissues such as liver, muscle, heart, etc., might also contribute to the pathology of the disease in severely affected patients. The study, which also paves the way for a potential SMA drug to enter human trials by the end of the year, appears in Nature on October 6. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-long-term-severe-spinal-muscular-atrophy.html Medical research Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:02 EST news237037984 Researchers at the University of Missouri have identified a communication breakdown between nerves and muscles in mice that may provide new insight into the debilitating and fatal human disease known as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-insight-spinal-muscular-atrophy.html Neuroscience Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:41:04 EST news236270454 Although several genes have been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), it is still unknown how they cause this progressive neurodegenerative disease. In a new study, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have demonstrated that two ALS-associated genes work in tandem to support the long-term survival of motor neurons. The findings were published in the September 1 online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-genes-familial-als-shown.html Genetics Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:43:17 EST news234099753 An international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have used induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to reveal for the first time how reduced levels of a specific protein may play a central role in causing at least one inherited form of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-stem-cell-clues-inherited-als.html Genetics Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:04:02 EST news227891007 (Medical Xpress) -- Cornell researchers have identified a group of spinal cord nerve cells that manages running in mice. In the process they have illuminated an interesting step in mouse evolution: When you're being chased by a hawk, you're better off scampering than galloping, even though galloping is faster. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-neural-wiring-mouse.html Neuroscience Thu, 12 May 2011 06:45:53 EST news224401492 (Medical Xpress) -- People with the commonest form of motor neuron disease (MND) called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are more likely to have relatively long ring fingers, reveals research from the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-finger-length-clue-motor-neuron.html Neuroscience Wed, 11 May 2011 09:17:22 EST news224324195 Neuroepithelial stem cells, the early progenitors for much of the nervous system, need to maintain a keen sense of direction in order to properly manage replication, migration and maturation. These cells are highly polarized, and exclusively initiate cell division at their apical (top) end rather than at their basal (bottom) end, although it has remained a mystery how they determine which way is up. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-key-nervous-blocking-protein-stem.html Neuroscience Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:30:02 EST news223294822 New Orleans, LA –In the first animal model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), developed by Dr. Udai Pandey, Assistant Professor of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, Dr. Pandey's lab has found in fruit flies that blocking the abnormal movement of a protein made by a mutated gene called FUS also blocks the disease process. The research is available online in the Advanced Access section of the journal Human Molecular Genetics website, posted on April 12, 2011. It will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-discovery-block-als-disease.html Genetics Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:11:34 EST news222437477