CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-20 Conference Coverage The "great amyloid debate" appeared to resolve at least one issue in the rather contentious arena of defining the critical neuropathological events in AD. Amyloid per se, i.e., "extracellular, fibrillar, congophilic depo
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-20 Conference Coverage Aβ's fibril-formation processes were revealed in a tour de force of atomic force microscopy by Harper (Abstract 909). The initial species to be detected are four nm globular assemblies which range in size from 1.4 to 14 nm. He ind
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-20 Conference Coverage Three abstracts presented during this session, as well as those by Vincent et al. (Abstract 594) and Arendt et al. (Abstract 595), indicate that cell cycle and mitotic mechanisms may be a key factor in the understanding of tau phosphor
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-19 Conference Coverage This roundtable session, supported by a grant from SmithKline Beecham and cochaired by G. Wilcock (Bristol, UK) and R. Kumar (Essex, UK), sought to provide a glimpse of future directions for the development of new therapeutic agents fo
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-19 Conference Coverage B. Mahley (Abstract 303) reported new data on transgenic mice that could help elucidate the role of ApoE isoforms in neurodegeneration. He began his lecture with an overview of the structure and function of apolipoprotein E (ApoE), a l
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-19 Conference Coverage Alonso et al. (Abstract 590) reviewed the role of tau proteins in tubulin polymerization. There are six tau isoforms in the human brain. Three have three microtubule-binding domains (3R) and the three others have four microtubule-bindi
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-18 Conference Coverage Perhaps one of the most striking features of the conference this year, reflecting the state of research on AD in general, is the continued absence of a clear consensus on what is the most relevant neuropathological change in AD. The fi
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-18 Conference Coverage This session was disappointing, offering nothing really new. What new data were presented appear to be very controversial. Farrer et al. (Abstract 280) tried to confirm the linkage described by Duke University, North Carolina. They des
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-18 Conference Coverage Soto (Abstract 295) presented data documenting the ability of their 11 and 5 amino-acid inhibitors to inhibit initial Aβ peptide aggregation and its ability to dissociate already formed Aβ fibrils in vitro. In addition to the assays me
CONFERENCE COVERAGE 1998-07-18 Conference Coverage Bruce Yankner took time out from his talk on Down's syndrome (Abstract 7) to discuss his recent injection studies in young versus aged rhesus monkeys, published in the July issue of Nature Medicine. His key findings were that inje
WEBINAR 1998-05-28 Chris Weihl led this live discussion on 28 May 1999. Readers are invited to submit additional comments by using our Comments form at the bottom of the page. Article under discussion van Leeuwen FW, de Kleijn DPV, van den Hurk HH, Neubauer A, Sonnemans M
RESEARCH NEWS 1998-05-20 Research News The brains of Alzheimer's disease victims are peppered with neuritic plaques-microscopic, spherical structures containing, among other things, deposits of β amyloid peptide, dead and dying neurons and evidence of inflammation. The infla
RESEARCH NEWS 1998-05-18 Research News Synucleins are small cytoplasmic proteins that are found in synaptic terminals. They are present in senile plaques and Lewy bodies (features of Alzheimer's disease and familial Parkinson's disease). Synucleins also bind amyloid pep
RESEARCH NEWS 1998-05-01 Research News (From Nature Biotechnology press release.) Each cell in our bodies contains 46 chromosomes. But one day far in the future, doctors may give us an extra miniature chromosome containing therapeutic genes to treat disease. Researchers are curre
RESEARCH NEWS 1998-04-09 Research News Breeding “knockout” mice is a prized tool for evaluating the function of genes, but it is a ponderous and costly tool, consuming many months and thousands of dollars to create each new knockout strain. But that could soon change. In today’s