One of two proteins that regulate nerve cells and assist in overall brain function may be the key to preventing long-term damage as a result of a stroke, the leading cause of disability and third leading cause of death in the United States.
In a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, Bonnie Firestein, professor of cell biology and neuroscience, in the School of Arts and Sciences, says the new research indicates that increased production of two proteins cypin and PSD-95 results in very different outcomes.
While cypin a protein that regulates nerve cell and neuron branching critical to normal brain functioning -- prevents nerve cells not damaged during the initial stroke from losing the ability to communicate with other cells and halts any secondary brain or neurological damage, PSD-95 accelerates cell destruction and inhibits recovery. Secondary injury from a stroke can occur days or even weeks after the injury and often includes a lack of blood flow, insufficient oxygen, and swelling of the brain.
"We don't know how or why cypin acts during this process, but what we do know is that cypin helps nerve cells survive," said Firestein, who first isolated and identified cypin more than a decade ago. Since then, she has been researching how it works in the brain and could be used to treat traumatic brain injury and other serious neurological disorders.
Firestein and her former graduate student Chia-Yi Tseng conducted the laboratory research by putting nerve cells in a dish and creating an "experimental stroke" mimicking a massive amount of glutamate released, resulting in nerve cells destroyed.
They wanted to determine if anything could be done to stop the secondary damage that occurs after a stroke and discovered that while a greater number of neurons that survived the stroke were spared secondary destruction with increased amounts of cypin, too much PSD-95 resulted in the death of nerve cells no
'/>"/>
| Contact: Robin Lally rlally@ur.rutgers.edu 732-932-7684 x652 Rutgers University Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. Rutgers professor uses lichen to help cities go green
2. Rutgers establishes stem cell repository for the study of mental health disorders
3. Rutgers-affiliated company receives funding for technology to help choose breast cancer treatments
4. Rutgers, UMDNJ research provides unprecedented insight into fighting viral infections
5. Rutgers, UMDNJ receive $23 million to develop antidotes for chemical weapons attacks
6. Rutgers laboratory helped to create new HIV drug
7. Rutgers offers hope in new treatment for spinal cord injuries
8. $1,820,000 from NSF awarded to Rutgers-Newark to acquire fMRI dedicated to research
9. Rutgers part of team awarded $3.3 million National Institutes of Health grant for prostate cancer research
10. NIH awards Rutgers $47.5 million to advance groundbreaking research on protein structures
11. Rutgers-Camden professor engineers E. coli to produce biodiesel
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |