In rats and tissue cultures
of human nerve cells, these «beta sheet breakers» not only prevent amyloid plaques from forming, but also dissolve existing plaques.
BRAIN CANDY A new database offers a deep look at
living human nerve cells, revealing elaborate branching structures and myriad shapes, such as in this neuron called a pyramidal cell (cell image, left and 3 - D computer reconstruction, right).
In one well - studied example, the bacteria called Campylobacter jejuni, a common cause of food poisoning, carries a lipid molecule on its outer coat that resembles so - called gangliosides, molecules that
help human nerve cells recognize and communicate with each other.
Deth reported last year, for example, that in
human nerve cells thimerosal blocks a chemical reaction called methylation that is critical to gene activity and that is also disabled by exposure to lead.
«These cells
resemble human nerve cells that innervate joints,» said team leader Professor Boaz Cook, who is an assistant professor at TSRI, «and they encode joint - angle information in the same way.»
By studying lab dishes
of human nerve cells, or neurons, derived from Parkinson's patients, researchers found that a harmful...
Kai Wucherpfennig and Jack Strominger of Harvard University have found that several viruses and a bacterium produce protein fragments resembling those on the surface of
human nerve cells.
«By using this powerful approach, we can begin to answer many questions about the physiology and molecular machinery of
human nerve cells — not just around healthy aging but pathological aging as well,» says Martin Hetzer, a Salk professor also involved in the work.
in vitro culture of
human nerve cells (yellow; nuclei: purple) exposed to various concentrations of different flame retardants: PBDE 99 is already in use and suspected to be harmful to health; the substance was thus used as a positive control.
To identify promising compounds, the team grew
human nerve cells in the lab and tested whether more than 1100 medications, vitamins, dietary supplements, and other molecules altered their output of α - synuclein.