Tag: degeneration

Research points to new hope for treatment-resistant age-related macular degeneration

An oxysterol that accumulates in the eye with age can transform choroidal endothelial cells; interfering with the process might help patients with treatment-resistant age-related macular degeneration. The latest research from the laboratory of John A. Moran Eye Center physician-scientist Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, reveals how an oxidized form of cholesterol can change choroidal endothelial cells

Protein offers protection against nerve degeneration in ALS model

Increasing the levels of the anti-aging protein hormone Klotho improves the neurological deficits and prolongs life span in an experimental model with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). In addition, brain immune cells called microglia play an important role in protecting the brain against inflammation and, likely, motor neuron loss in this model. ALS or Lou Gehrig’s

Muscle-building proteins hold clues to ALS, muscle degeneration

Toxic protein assemblies, or “amyloids,” long considered to be key drivers in many neuromuscular diseases, also play a beneficial role in the development of healthy muscle tissue, University of Colorado Boulder researchers have found. “Ours is the first study to show that amyloid-like structures not only exist in healthy skeletal muscle during regeneration, but are

Better assessments for early age-related macular degeneration

The European MACUSTAR consortium is conducting a multi-country clinical study on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) coordinated by the University of Bonn. The clinical study focuses on the intermediate stage of the disease, in which a person’s vision under low-light and low-contrast conditions is impaired. Throughout Europe, a total of 20 study centers will recruit and