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Dr. Puneet Opal, MD/PhDScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2011) - A protein that promotes the growth of neurons and blood vessels appears to stop the progression of a genetic disease that causes degeneration of the cerebellum, according to new preclinical Northwestern Medicine research published in Nature Medicine.
The disease, spinocerebellar ataxia type 1, typically strikes people in their 30s and 40s and causes degeneration of the cerebellum, the part of the brain that helps coordinate movement. As the disease progresses over 10 to 20 years, patients eventually die from aspiration or infectious pneumonia. The disease is caused by a mutation in a protein called ataxin-1, which plays a role in regulating a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF.

When Northwestern scientists replenished VEGF in the brains of a mouse model of this disease, the brains -- which had showed atrophy in the cerebellum -- began to appear more normal, with an increase in connections between neurons. The mice also had improved balance.    Ameet R. Kini, MD, PhD Source/read more

 See also “Promising New Approach to Treating Debilitating Nervous System Disease”