• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Friday, September 26, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Biology

NIH study implicates hyperactive immune system in aging brain disorders

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 2, 2019
in Biology
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
IMAGE
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Results suggest a breakdown in brain cell waste system triggers a destructive immune reaction

IMAGE

Credit: Giniger lab, NIH/NINDS


In a study of fruit flies, NIH scientists suggested that the body’s immune system may play a critical role in the damage caused by aging brain disorders. The results are based on experiments in which the researchers altered the activity of Cdk5, a gene that preclinical studies have suggested is important for early brain development and may be involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Previously, they found that altering Cdk5 sped up the genetic aging process, causing the flies to die earlier than normal and have problems with walking or flying late in life and greater signs of neurodegenerative brain damage.

In this study, published in Cell Reports, they suggested that altering Cdk5 resulted in the death of dopamine releasing neurons, especially in the brains of older flies. Typically, Parkinson’s disease damages the same types of cells in humans. Further experiments in flies suggested the neuron loss happened because altering Cdk5 slowed autophagy, or a cell’s waste disposal system that rids the body of damaged cells in a contained, controlled fashion, which in turn triggered the immune system to attack the animal’s own neurons. This immune system attack is a much “messier” and more diffuse process than autophagy. Genetically restoring the waste system or blocking the immune system’s responses prevented the reduction in dopamine neurons caused by altering Cdk5. The authors concluded that this chain reaction in which a breakdown in autophagy triggers a widely destructive immune reaction may occur in human brain during several neurodegenerative disorders and that researchers may want to look to these systems for new treatment targets and strategies.

###

WHO:

Edward Giniger, Ph.D., senior scientist, NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Article:

Shukla et al. Hyperactive innate immunity causes degeneration of dopamine neurons upon altering activity of Cdk5, January 2, 2019, Cell Reports

This study was supported by the Intramural Research Program at the NINDS (NS003106).

Image caption: Understanding Aging Brain Disorders. In a study of flies, NIH scientists showed how the immune system may be a culprit in the damage caused by aging brain disorders. Courtesy of Giniger lab, NIH/NINDS.

For more information:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov

neuroscience.nih.gov/ninds/

neuroscience.nih.gov

irp.nih.gov

NINDS is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

Media Contact
Christopher G. Thomas
[email protected]

Tags: BiologyCell BiologyMedicine/Healthneurobiology
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Metabolic Profiles of Tibetan Sheep Muscle Flavor Compounds

Metabolic Profiles of Tibetan Sheep Muscle Flavor Compounds

September 26, 2025
blank

Exploring Genomic Diversity in Chinese Holsteins

September 26, 2025

New Study Reveals Need for More High-Quality Habitats to Support Insect Pollinators and Boost Farming

September 25, 2025

Color-changing strategies enhance prey protection according to environmental conditions

September 25, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    New Study Reveals the Science Behind Exercise and Weight Loss

    78 shares
    Share 31 Tweet 20
  • Physicists Develop Visible Time Crystal for the First Time

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Scientists Discover and Synthesize Active Compound in Magic Mushrooms Again

    55 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14
  • Tailored Gene-Editing Technology Emerges as a Promising Treatment for Fatal Pediatric Diseases

    51 shares
    Share 20 Tweet 13

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Advancements in Lightweight UAV Object Detection: Exploring Reparameterized Convolutions and Shallow Fusion Networks

Safeguarding Our Healthcare Heroes: Strategies to Boost Vaccination Among Medical Workers Amid Rising Measles Cases

New Deep Learning Model Classifies Circulating Tumor Cells

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.