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A single protein may help treat Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s

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Scientists, Parkinson's, Huntington's, Alzheimer's amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, neurodegenerative diseases, activating Nrf2, Institutes in California

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New York: Scientists have found that a single protein can lead to effective treatments for devastating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). These disorders are triggered by misbehaving proteins in the brain that misfold and accumulate in neurons, inflicting damage and eventually killing the cells.

In the study, researchers from the Gladstone Institutes in California used a different protein — Nrf2 — to restore levels of the disease-causing proteins to a normal, healthy range, thereby preventing cell death. “We’ve tested Nrf2 in models of Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ALS and it is the most protective thing we’ve ever found. Based on the magnitude and the breadth of the effect, we really want to understand Nrf2 and its role in protein regulation better,” said Steven Finkbeiner from Gladstone Institute.

The researchers tested Nrf2 in two models of Parkinson’s disease — cells with mutations in the proteins LRRK2 and alpha-synuclein. By activating Nrf2, the researchers turned on several “house-cleaning” mechanisms in the cell to remove excess LRRK2 and alpha-synuclein.

“Nrf2 coordinates a whole program of gene expression, but we didn’t know how important it was for regulating protein levels until now,” added Gaia Skibinski, research scientist at Gladstone Institute. “Overexpressing Nrf2 in cellular models of Parkinson’s disease resulted in a huge effect. In fact, it protects cells against the disease better than anything else we’ve found,” Skibinski explained.

Using a one-of-a-kind robotic microscope, the team tagged and tracked individual neurons — both rat and human — over time to monitor their protein levels and overall health. They took thousands of images of the cells over the course of a week, measuring the development and demise of each one.

While, for mutant LRRK2, Nrf2 drove the protein to gather into incidental clumps that can remain in the cell without damaging it, for alpha-synuclein, Nrf2 accelerated the breakdown and clearance of the protein, reducing its levels in the cell, the results showed. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

 

Corona

Covid toll in Karnataka is a worrying sign for state government

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Even though Karnataka recorded the lowest number of Covid deaths in April since the virus struck first in 2020, the state is recording a rise in the positivity rate (1.50 per cent). Five people died from the Covid infections in April as per the statistics released by the state health department. In March, the positivity rate stood around 0.53 per cent. In the first week of April it came down to 0.38 per cent, second week registered 0.56 per cent, third week it rose to 0.79 per cent and by end of April the Covid positivity rate touched 1.19 per cent.

on an average 500 persons used to succumb everyday in the peak of Covid infection, as per the data. Health experts said that the mutated Coronavirus is losing its fierce characteristics as vaccination, better treatment facilities and awareness among the people have contributed to the lesser number of Covid deaths.

During the 4th and 6th of April two deaths were reported in Bengaluru, one in Gadag district on April 8, two deaths were reported from Belagavi and Vijayapura on April 30. The first Covid case was reported in the state in March 2020 and three Covid deaths were recorded in the month. In the following month 21 people became victims to the deadly virus, and May 2020 recorded 22 deaths. The death toll recorded everyday after May crossed three digits. However, the third wave, which started in January 2

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