Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how a defect in a single master gene disrupts the process by which several genes interact to create myelin, a fatty coating that covers nerve cells and increases the speed and reliability of their electrical signals.
Neurodegenerative
Fragile X protein may play role in Alzheimer’s disease
A brain afflicted by severe Alzheimer’s disease is a sad sight, a wreck of tangled neural connections and organic rubble as the lingering evidence of a fierce internal battle.
Work underscores importance of family in caring for people with disabilities
The story that Sandra Magana tells her social work classes is a tale of challenges and of how people rise to them.
Engineered stem cells show promise for sneaking drugs into the brain
One of the great challenges for treating Parkinson’s diseases and other neurodegenerative disorders is getting medicine to the right place in the brain.
Huntington’s cure in flies lays groundwork for new treatment approaches
Boosting levels of two critical proteins that normally shut down during Huntington’s disease, researchers at UW-Madison and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cured fruit flies of the genetic, neurodegenerative condition.
Scientists infuse rat spinal cords with brain-derived human stem cells
Unveiling a delivery method that may one day help surgeons treat the deadly neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), researchers at the UW-Madison have inserted engineered human stem cells into the spinal cords of ALS-afflicted rats.
Michael J. Fox visits the Waisman Center
Michael J. Fox visited the Waisman Center on Tuesday, February 1 to tour the stem cell research laboratories of Clive Svendsen and Su-Chun Zhang, as well as other components of the center’s translational research tower, including the Waisman Clinical BioManufacturing Facility and the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior. Fox was accompanied by Wisconsin Governor James Doyle.
UW breakthrough could combat neurological diseases
A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have found a way to revive dying brain cells in lab mice, spurring hopes of combating major human neurological diseases.
Discovery may halt progression of Alzheimer’s
In a finding that may cause a dramatic shift in the way scientists and researchers search for a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, a team of researchers led by Jeff Johnson, an associate professor at the School of Pharmacy, has discovered that increased expression of a protein called transthyretin in the brain appears to halt the progression of the disease.
Gift will benefit Waisman Center research on Parkinson’s disease
A gift of $500,000 from George E. Prescott, a member of the Waisman Center’s board of visitors, will benefit the Parkinson’s disease research program at the Waisman Center.