PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Neuroscientists find protein linked to cognitive deficits in Angelman syndrome

2013-08-01
(Press-News.org) A team of neuroscientists has identified a protein in laboratory mice linked to impairments similar to those afflicted with Angelman syndrome (AS)—a condition associated with symptoms that include autism, intellectual disability, and motor abnormalities.

The findings appear in the journal Cell Reports.

"By isolating a protein that contributes to cognitive deficits in Angelman syndrome, these findings mark a step forward in not only addressing AS, but perhaps other developmental disorders as well," said Eric Klann, a professor in New York University's Center for Neural Science and one of the study's co-authors.

The study's researchers also included: Shelly Buffington and Matthew Rasband of the Baylor College of Medicine; Jerry Lingrel of the Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology at the University of Cincinnati; and Hanoch Kaphzan, Akila Ramaraj, and Emanuela Santini of NYU's Center for Neural Science.

Previous research has shown that AS model mice display brain dysfunctions that match neurological abnormalities observed in humans, including cognitive deficits such as long-term memory. A previous study by Klann and his colleagues pointed to a potential cause for the condition—overexpression of a subunit of a protein termed Na/K-ATPase in AS model mice.

In the Cell Reports study, the authors hypothesized that if they could decrease expression of this subunit, they could improve cognitive function of AS model mice.

To do this, they ran different populations of mice through cognitive and memory tests—including a water maze to examine spatial memory and a fear conditioning paradigm to examine associative memory. They examined behaviors of the following types of mice: normal mice, AS model mice, mice that had reduced levels of the Na/K-ATPase, and AS model mice in which expression of the subunit of Na/K-ATPase was reduced.

In the water maze test, the mice needed to elevate themselves onto a platform in a specific location to get out of the water. The AS mice took longer to learn this task, but AS mice with reduced levels of the Na/K-ATPase subunit learned the task as fast as normal mice. In the second test, the researchers removed the maze's platform and measured how long the mice searched for the platform in this part of the maze in order to measure their memory of the platform location. The normal mice and the AS model mice with diminished expression of the Na/K-ATPase subunit searched the correct area of the maze in the same amount of time. However, other AS model mice had no memory of the platform location. In a second experiment, the researchers placed the mice in a staging area where they received a mild electric foot shock. Later, they were returned to the same staging area—a process that tested whether or not they could recall being at this location. Scientists typically measure recall in this commonly used experiment by gauging "freezing behavior"—that is, freezing when returned to an area in which they'd previously received a foot shock.

Here, the results were consistent with the maze findings—the normal mice and the AS model mice with diminished expression of the Na/K-ATPase subunit exhibited freezing behavior upon the return to the staging area where they'd earlier received the foot shock, demonstrating the ability to recall a previous incident. However, other AS model mice were significantly less likely to show this behavior, revealing a diminished ability to recall a previous incident.

### The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NS034007, NS047384, NS078718, NS044916, and NS073295) and by the Angelman Syndrome Foundation.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Boning up: McMaster researchers find home of best stem cells for bone marrow transplants

2013-08-01
Hamilton, ON (August 1, 2013) –McMaster University researchers have revealed the location of human blood stem cells that may improve bone marrow transplants. The best stem cells are at the ends of the bone. It is hoped this discovery will lead to lowering the amount of bone marrow needed for a donation while increasing regeneration and lessening rejection in the recipient patients, says principal investigator Mick Bhatia, professor and scientific director of the McMaster Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. In a paper published online today by the journal Cell ...

Bacteria hold the clues to trade-offs in financial investments and evolution

2013-08-01
Scientists have found that bacteria have the potential to teach valuable investment lessons. The research, published in the journal Ecology Letters, takes advantage of the fact that bacteria, like humans, have limited resources and are constantly faced with investment decisions. Bacteria though are successful with their investments and have colonised every inch of the surface of our planet. The researchers, from the Universities of Exeter and Sydney, used mathematical models and lab-based synthetic biology, to predict bacterial investment crashes and boom-bust cycles. ...

UC San Diego researchers develop efficient model for generating human iPSCs

2013-08-01
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report a simple, easily reproducible RNA-based method of generating human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in the August 1 edition of Cell Stem Cell. Their approach has broad applicability for the successful production of iPSCs for use in human stem cell studies and eventual cell therapies. Partially funded by grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the methods developed by the UC San Diego researchers dramatically ...

Fly study finds 2 new drivers of RNA editing

2013-08-01
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — RNA editing gives organisms a way to adapt the instructions that their DNA provides for making proteins. Few people would have described RNA editing as a simple process, but a new paper in Nature Communications demonstrates the process as more complex and difficult to predict than previously assumed. The study, done in living fruit flies, discovered two new mechanisms that govern editing in a key neurodevelopmental gene. RNA editing is governed not only by sequences of RNA nucleotides (the letters A, C, G, and U) and corresponding ...

Ultrasound patch heals venous ulcers in human trial

2013-08-01
In a small clinical study, researchers administered a new method for treating chronic wounds using a novel ultrasound applicator that can be worn like a band-aid. The applicator delivers low-frequency, low-intensity ultrasound directly to wounds, and was found to significantly accelerate healing in five patients with venous ulcers. Venous ulcers are caused when valves in the veins malfunction, causing blood to pool in the leg instead of returning to the heart. This pooling, called venous stasis, can cause proteins and cells in the vein to leak into the surrounding tissue ...

New designer compound treats heart failure by targeting cell nucleus

2013-08-01
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have made a fundamental discovery relevant to the understanding and treatment of heart failure – a leading cause of death worldwide. The team discovered a new molecular pathway responsible for causing heart failure and showed that a first-in-class prototype drug, JQ1, blocks this pathway to protect the heart from damage. In contrast to standard therapies for heart failure, JQ1 works directly within the cell's command center, or nucleus, to prevent damaging stress responses. ...

When galaxies switch off

2013-08-01
Some galaxies hit a point in their lives when their star formation is snuffed out, and they become "quenched". Quenched galaxies in the distant past appear to be much smaller than the quenched galaxies in the Universe today. This has always puzzled astronomers -- how can these galaxies grow if they are no longer forming stars? A team of astronomers has now used a huge set of Hubble observations to give a surprisingly simple answer to this long-standing cosmic riddle. Until now, these small, snuffed-out galaxies were thought to grow into the larger quenched galaxies we ...

Nice organisms finish first: Why cooperators always win in the long run

2013-08-01
Leading physicists last year turned game theory on its head by giving selfish players a sure bet to beat cooperative players. Now two evolutionary biologists at Michigan State University offer new evidence that the selfish will die out in the long run. "We found evolution will punish you if you're selfish and mean," said lead author Christoph Adami, MSU professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. "For a short time and against a specific set of opponents, some selfish organisms may come out ahead. But selfishness isn't evolutionarily sustainable." The paper "Evolutionary ...

Potential nutritional therapy for childhood neurodegenerative disease

2013-08-01
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the gene mutation responsible for a particularly severe form of pontocerebellar hypoplasia, a currently incurable neurodegenerative disease affecting children. Based on results in cultured cells, they are hopeful that a nutritional supplement may one day be able to prevent or reverse the condition. The study, from a team of international collaborators led by Joseph G. Gleeson, MD – Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor in the UCSD Departments of Neurosciences ...

A week's worth of camping synchs internal clock to sunrise and sunset, CU-Boulder study finds

2013-08-01
Spending just one week exposed only to natural light while camping in the Rocky Mountains was enough to synch the circadian clocks of eight people participating in a University of Colorado Boulder study with the timing of sunrise and sunset. The study, published online today in the journal Current Biology, found that the synchronization happened in that short period of time for all participants, regardless of whether they were early birds or night owls during their normal lives. "What's remarkable is how, when we're exposed to natural sunlight, our clocks perfectly ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

KAIST Develops Retinal Therapy to Restore Lost Vision​

Adipocyte-hepatocyte signaling mechanism uncovered in endoplasmic reticulum stress response

Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid

Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia

Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients

Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years

Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations

New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients

New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans

Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production

New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination

Study examines lactation in critically ill patients

UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award

Doubling down on metasurfaces

New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders

Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana

PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation

ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy

How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease

A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet

Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice

Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast

Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds

The experts that can outsmart optical illusions

Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk

Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase

Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows

Unintentional drug overdoses take a toll across the U.S. unequally, study finds

A step toward plant-based gelatin

ECMWF unveils groundbreaking ML tool for enhanced fire prediction

[Press-News.org] Neuroscientists find protein linked to cognitive deficits in Angelman syndrome