Alzheimer's molecule is a smart speed bump on the nerve-cell transport highway

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Differential regulation of dynein and kinesin motor proteins by the microtubule associated protein tau. The Penn group found that dynein which carries loads towards the interior of the nerve cell maneuvers around tau whereas kinesin which carries loa ...
Differential regulation of dynein and kinesin motor proteins by the microtubule associated protein tau. The Penn group found that dynein, which carries loads towards the interior of the nerve cell, maneuvers around tau; whereas, kinesin, which carries loads towards the outside of the nerve cell, detaches when it encounters tau. Credit: Credit: Ram Dixit, PhD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that proteins carrying chemical cargo in nerve cells react differently when exposed to the tau protein, which plays an important role in Alzheimer’s disease.


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All News summaries for January 17, 2008

Patients will face delays in getting diagnostic scans due to severe shortage of imaging agents

Sep 06, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
A global shortage of medical isotopes* used in over 80% of routine diagnostic nuclear imaging procedures such as heart imaging, bone scans and some cancer detection procedures, will cause delays and cancellations to diagnostic ...

Parsing the genome of a deadly brain tumor

Sep 06, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
The most comprehensive to-date genomic analysis of a cancer – the deadly brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme – shows previously unrecognized changes in genes and provides an overall view of the missteps in the pathways that ...

How STDs increase the risk of becoming infected with HIV

Sep 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
Individuals who have a sexually transmitted disease (e.g., genital herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia) and women with yeast and bacterial vaginal infections have an increased risk of becoming infected with HIV if ...

Review panel criticizes Great Lakes health study

Sep 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
(AP) -- Substandard science has hurt a federal agency's seven-year effort to document possible links between industrial pollution and health problems in the Great Lakes region, an independent review panel said Friday.

Pill that boosts productivity gaining favor, raising concerns among medical ethicists

Sep 05, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
In a place like Silicon Valley, where career prospects often hinge on a person's intelligence and ability to work hellishly long hours, "brain doping" probably was inevitable.