Home 
Reports Life Sciences Content
next article
11.01.2013
Now, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that blocking the interaction of a critical enzyme may counteract the destruction of neurons associated with these neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting a potential new target for drug development.
These findings appear in the January 11, 2013 edition of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
During periods of cellular stress, such as exposure to UV radiation, the number of highly reactive oxygen-containing molecules can increase in cells, resulting in serious damage. However, relatively little is known about the role played in this process by a number of stress-related enzymes.
In the new study, the TSRI team led by Professor Philip LoGrasso focused on an enzyme known as c-jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK). Under stress, JNK migrates to the mitochondria, the part of the cell that generates chemical energy and is involved in cell growth and death. That migration, coupled with JNK activation, is associated with a number of serious health issues, including mitochondrial dysfunction, which has long been known to contribute to neuronal death in Parkinson?s disease.
The new study showed for the first time that the interaction of JNK with a protein known as Sab is responsible for the initial JNK localization to the mitochondria in neurons. The scientists also found blocking JNK mitochondrial signaling by inhibiting JNK interaction with Sab can protect against neuronal damage in both cell culture and in the brain.
In addition, by treating JNK with a peptide inhibitor derived from a mitochondrial membrane protein, the team was able to induce a two-fold level of protection of neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, the brain region devastated by Parkinson?s disease.
The study noted that this inhibition leaves all other cell signaling intact, which could mean potentially fewer side effects in any future therapies.
?This may be a novel way to prevent neuron degeneration,? said LoGrasso. ?Now we can try to make compounds that block that translocation and see if they?re therapeutically viable.?
The first author of the study, ?Blocking c-jun-N-terminal Kinase (JNK) Translocation to the Mitochondria Prevents 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Toxicity in vitro and in vivo? is Jeremy W. Chambers, formerly of TSRI and currently at Florida International University. Other authors include Shannon Howard, also of TSRI. For more information on the paper, see http://www.jbc.org/content/early/2012/11/26/jbc.M112.421354.full.pdf
The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (Grant Number U01NS057153-04) and by The Saul and Theresa Esman Foundation.
About The Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is one of the world's largest independent, not-for-profit organizations focusing on research in the biomedical sciences. Over the past decades, TSRI has developed a lengthy track record of major contributions to science and health, including laying the foundation for new treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, and other diseases. The institute employs about 3,000 people on its campuses in La Jolla, CA, and Jupiter, FL, where its renowned scientists?including three Nobel laureates?work toward their next discoveries. The institute's graduate program, which awards PhD degrees in biology and chemistry, ranks among the top ten of its kind in the nation. For more information, see www.scripps.edu.
For information:
Office of Communications
Tel: 858-784-8134
Fax: 858-784-8136
press@scripps.edu
Eric Sauter | Source: EurekAlert!
Further information: www.scripps.edu
next article
Overview of the latest five Focus news of the innovations-report:
In the focus: Virus caught in the act of infecting a cell
The detailed changes in the structure of a virus as it infects an E. coli bacterium have been observed for the first time, report researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT Health) Medical School this week in Science Express.
To infect a cell, a virus must be able to first find a suitable cell and then eject its genetic material into its host. This robot-like process has been observed in a virus called T7 and visualized by Ian Molineux, professor of biology at The University of Texas at Austin, ...
In the focus: Oxygen to the core
An international collaboration including researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has discovered that the Earth's core formed under more oxidizing condition's than previously proposed.
Through a series of laser-heated diamond anvil cell experiments at high pressure (350,000 to 700,000 atmospheres of pressure) and temperatures (5,120 to 7,460 degrees Fahrenheit), the team demonstrated that the depletion of siderophile (also known as "iron loving") elements can be produced by core formation under more oxidizing conditions than ...
In the focus: Investigators Discover New Gene That Affects Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus
Scientists have discovered a gene that interferes with the clearance of hepatitis C virus infection.
They also identified an inherited variant within this gene, Interferon Lambda 4 (IFNL4), that predicts how people respond to treatment for hepatitis C infection. The results of this study, by investigators at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the NIH, and their collaborators at NIH and other institutions, were ...
In the focus: Laser Polishing Accelerates Surface Finish of Dental and Blood-carrying Implants
On 28 November 2012, the partners of the project ?MediSurf?, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, presented their research results in Aachen, Germany.
Led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, a consort of seven project partners addressed the task of reducing the time needed to process dental and blood-carrying implants while maintaining their high bio- and haemocompatibility. To accomplish this, a flexible and cost-effective plant, among others, was developed to automatically ...
In the focus: How the brain stays receptive: researchers examine the role of channel protein in learning
PLoS ONE: Pannexin1 is critical for memory and orientation
The channel protein Pannexin1 keeps nerve cells flexible and thus the brain receptive for new knowledge. Together with colleagues from Canada and the U.S., researchers at the Ruhr-Universit?t Bochum led by the junior professor Dr. Nora Prochnow from the Department of Molecular Brain Research describe these results in PLoS ONE. ...
megamillions winners university of louisville louisville ky final four lotto winners mega ball winning numbers baltimore county
No comments:
Post a Comment