Takaomi Saido on Polymorphism in the BACE gene influences the risk for Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENT If confirmed across different racial and ethnic groups, this work will be, to my knowledge, the first evidence for association of BACE SNPs with AD risks. 0 saido

Douglas Galasko on Glycation of the amyloid beta-protein by a nicotine metabolite: a fortuitous chemical dynamic between smoking and Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENT I find these results interesting. Since I'm not an expert in Ab aggregation, I cannot comment

Sylvian Bauer on Immortality Gene in Embryonic Stem Cells Is Identified

COMMENT Two papers published in the June issue of Cell describe the identification and characterization of a new transcription factor specifically expressed in embryonic stem (ES) cells. ES cells are derived in vitro from the inner cell mass (ICM) of the early em

Paul J. Lucassen on Small Molecules Turn Stem Cells into Neurons, Targeting GSK3β

COMMENT This paper reports interesting data on the handles that might control the differentiation and phenotype of stem cells. The authors used a high-throughput phenotypic screen to identify a small synthetic molecule called TWS119, which induced transformation

Major Richard L Centner, Jr, AUS on [3H]GR113808 binding to serotonin 5-HT(4) receptors in the postmortem neocortex of Alzheimer disease: a clinicopathological study.

COMMENT This is one those papers that commend themselves for eliminating possible dead ends for researchers and for hope on the part of those who cope with the disease through caregiving or healthcare. 0 rick.centner

Carol Brayne on Nicotine and β Amyloid—Smoking Guns?

COMMENT Comment on Janda et al. There is a great deal of interest in the role that nicotine and its

Daniel Tarsy on FDA Approves L-dopa Cocktail for Parkinson’s

COMMENT Stalevo provides a combination tablet containing L-dopa, carbidopa, and entocapone in a single tablet. The advantage of this formulation is mainly convenience, by reducing the number of tablets. The effect on cost is not yet known, as pricing has not been

David Standaert on FDA Approves L-dopa Cocktail for Parkinson’s

COMMENT Novartis has recently received approval to market a new drug for Parkinson's disease, Stalevo. This is in fact a new formulation of several drugs which are currently on the market. Stalevo contains three different drugs in a single tablet: carbidopa

Roland Pochet on Differential distribution of calbindin D28k and parvalbumin among functionally distinctive sets of structures in the macaque brainstem.

COMMENT Calbindin and parvalbumin were until now both classified as intracellular calcium buffers and therefore no clear physiological distinction were made between them. In this manuscript, Parvizi and Damazio elegantly showed that within the brainstem of the ma

Roland Pochet on Release of glutamate and GABA in the hippocampus under zinc deficiency.

COMMENT The zinc-deficient rat might be useful to study zinc homeostasis within Alzheimer's and ALS rat models. 0 rpochet

Roland Pochet on Participation of adenosine receptors in neuroprotection.

COMMENT Adenosine receptors are regulating many "cell behaviors" and deserve much attention by drug discovery people. 0 rpochet

Takaomi Saido on gamma-Secretase cleavage and binding to FE65 regulate the nuclear translocation of the intracellular C-terminal domain (ICD) of the APP family of proteins.

COMMENT The statement in the paper, "any strategy aimed at altering APP proteolysis will have to take into account possible effects on signaling by APLP1 and 2," sounds quite logical and resonable. One remaining major remainig question is what the biolo

Abraham Fisher on Altered hippocampal muscarinic receptors in acetylcholinesterase-deficient mice.

COMMENT The authors report that acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-deficient mice have markedly decreased expression of muscarinic receptor (mAChR) subtypes (M1, M2 and M4) in brain regions associated with memory. This was accompanied by a robust decrease in mAChR (prob

Steven Paul on RAGE mediates amyloid-beta peptide transport across the blood-brain barrier and accumulation in brain.

COMMENT Data from several groups has suggested that the Ab peptide can be transported from the brain to the blood and from the blood to the brain to a greater extent than would be expected unless there were specific transporters for Ab at the blood-brain barrier.

Takaomi Saido on Abeta42-lowering nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs preserve intramembrane cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and ErbB-4 receptor and signaling through the APP intracellular domain.

COMMENT The work further supports the applicability of NSAIDs to prevention and therapy of AD. 0 saido