Slowing Aging Process Could Help Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases

A new and unique compound, named NT219, selectively inhibits the process of aging in order to protect the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, without affecting lifespan, find researchers.

The successful joint collaboration between researchers at the Hebrew university of Jerusalem and the startup company TyrNovo is an important step towards the development of future drugs for the treatment of various neurodegenerative maladies.

Long-Term Impact of Blast-Induced Brain Injuries in Veterans Highlighted by Imaging Technique
Researchers have found that soldiers who suffered mild traumatic brain injury induced by blast exposure exhibit long-term brain differences.

Human neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases share two key features: they stem from toxic protein aggregation and emerge late in life.

The common temporal emergence pattern exhibited by these maladies proposes that the aging process negatively regulates protective mechanisms that prevent their manifestation early in life, exposing the elderly to disease.

Dr. Hadas Reuveni, the CEO of TyrNovo, a startup company formed for the clinical development of NT219, and Prof. Alexander Levitzki from the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Hebrew University, with their research teams, discovered a new set of compounds that inhibit the activity of the IGF1 signaling cascade in a unique and efficient mechanism, primarily for cancer treatment, and defined NT219 as the leading compound for further development.

Plain Packaging of Cigarettes Ineffective in Cutting Down Smoking Rates
Despite implementation of plain packaging of cigarettes in Australia, the sales of illicit tobacco and smoking rates have remained unchanged, a new study found

Now, the researchers have demonstrated that NT219 efficiently inhibits IGF1 signalling, in both worms and human cells. The inhibition of this signalling pathway by NT219 protected worms from toxic protein aggregation that in humans is associated with the development of Alzheimer's or Huntington's disease.

The findings strengthen the notion that the inhibition of the IGF1 signalling pathway has a therapeutic potential as a treatment for neurodegenerative disorders. They also point at NT219 as the first compound that provides protection from neurodegeneration-associated toxic protein aggregation through a selective manipulation of aging.

Study Looking into Aging Says It is Never too Late to Get Fit
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reveals that people who start exercise even late in life can reap the benefit in good health.

The study was published in the journal Aging Cell.

Source-ANI

Research: Advanced CT Imaging Proves as Accurate as Invasive Tests to Assess Heart Blockages
An international study has shown that an ultrafast, 320-detector computed tomography (CT) scanner shows both anatomy within coronary arteries and blood flow.