Individuals that suffer from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease or FTD, Frontotemporal Dementia should be happy to know that science has gotten at least one step closer to a possibly understanding this condition. Although it is a small step, it’s a significant one nonetheless. In a report that was found in the October 6, 2006 issues of Science, researchers discuss their findings. It seems they’ve identified a specific protein that links these two conditions together. They found a misfolded or otherwise incorrectly formed protein. The fact that these two conditions are linked, as well as the possibility of others to be so linked as well, allows researchers to further understand each of these conditions.
The scientists working on the project were Virginia Lee, PhD and John Trojanowski, MD/PhD. It was done at the University of Pennsylvania. So, what does this have to do with you, anyway? This marks the first time that scientists have been able to link dementia and motor neuron disease. By understanding that these two completely different conditions are somewhat links will allow for the further understanding of the condition. What’s important to the scientists is that they have a new piece of information to help them to understand the pathological process of both FTD and ALS.
In the past, scientists knew that there was this production of clumps of protein that form in the brain’s cells and neurons. But, they didn’t know why they were there. They also didn’t know what made them up. Understanding this, they thought, would help to further understand the diseases. This protein has now been identified as TDP-43, at least partially. This protein is known to be important for transcribing and regulating the genetic information.
The end result is that they now know what this protein is and will further their studies to understand why its there. Both scientists in the study believe that this protein will be a crucial element in fully understanding ALS and FTD.
To read more, visit http://www.physorg.com/news79278941.html
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