On the Bright Side

Brenda Sposato, For Luminaries   January 2, 2017

Figaro qua, figaro la! La, la, la, la, la, la!

Just days before Christmas, I had the honor to chat with previous Luminaries IRC columnist, Tania Ortega-Cowan. To my surprise, I learned the unsung hero and superstar whereabouts had been nothing but a transformational journey since her Luminaries departure last summer. Among the many talents Tania possesses, you may recall she loves to sing. So, in her spare time when she’s not doing photography, graphic designing, or writing about our local law enforcement and firefighters - Tania leads a Tremble Clefs class offered by the Alzheimer & Parkinson Association of IRC.

It’s no secret that Parkinson's disease will steal your voice. “But research has shown that vocal exercise enhances voice volume in people with Parkinson’s,” stated Judith Lemoncelli, director of Development for the Alzheimer & Parkinson Association.

“I love my Parkinson's singing students. We sing everything from Johnny Cash to Handel. We make each other laugh - a lot! The beauty of it all is sometimes overwhelming. I can see how after only a few months that everyone is already breathing deeper and singing/speaking louder, and this experience has been tremendously beneficial for me too in many meaningful ways,” said Tania.

According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, “the presence of music and rhythm can improve movement, and singing can be both physically and emotionally invigorating, especially when experienced with others who share the same motivation and enthusiasm.”

Tremble lefs is held every Friday at 2 p.m.at the Alzheimer & Parkinson Association of IRC, 2300 Fifth Ave. in Vero Beach. Anyone is welcome to come. For more information, call 772-563-0505 or visit MemoryandMotion.org.

2017 is the 50th anniversary of 'GOOD LOVIN'

Thanks to Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals

I was feeling, so bad…..I asked my family doctor just what I had

He said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Yes indeed, all I, I really need…Now gimme that good, good lovin'

Live! From Vero Beach will offer up Good Lovin and a whole lot more when Frank Cavaliere’s Rascals walk on The Emerson Center Stage on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m.

Add to that, as the evening rolls on, People Got to be Free, I’ve Been Lonely too Long and so many more top singles and albums by The Young Rascals which disbanded in 1972… but Felix and band still tour today performing all the many hits that fans will remember and sing. So get your vocals and dancing shoes ready for a fun night on Memory Lane!

Tickets can be purchased at MusicWorksConcerts.com or call (772) 778-5249. For more info call 772-234-4412. The Emerson Center is on the southeast corner of 16th Street and 27th Avenue and offers concert goers the benefit of convenient free parking and great sound.

Ribbit… ribbit… ribbit

When it comes to exotic delicacies, Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival knows how to cook up a feast. For more than 26 years, thousands of slippery green things have been served by the pound, dinner style, attracting more than 80,000 people, to say the least. And for the foodie beginners get your taste buds ready because the frog pops are here. Don’t forget the gator dinners, you gator and frog leg pounders – served fried with buttery grits, coleslaw, and good ole’ hushpuppies.

Organizers anticipate to sell more than 5,000 pounds of frog legs and 4,000 pounds of gators on Jan 19-22!

And if you’re looking for more than just full bellies take a ride on the ferris wheel, just one of many of the fun and thrilling attractions you’ll be sure to see. “We're supposed to have good weather this year so were looking forward to it. More vendors are expected to participate, and we will be featuring a lot of youthful talent as well,” said Susan Adams event committee member.

Admission and parking are free all four days, with free shuttle service on Saturday and Sunday. Festival hours are Thursday and Friday from 4 p.m.-9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Fellsmere is located 3 miles west of I-95 exit 156 on CR 512.

For more information, visit www.FrogLegFestival.com or follow Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival on Facebook and Twitter.

http://www.tcpalm.com/story/specialty-publications/2017/01/02/bright-side/95936656/

Watch: New breathalyser to diagnose diseases with just one puff

January 2, 2017  , JERUSALEM , PTI

Doctors may soon determine a person's risk of 17 different and unrelated diseases - including Parkinson's and various cancers - just by taking a quick read of their breath, thanks to a new low-cost and non-invasive device developed by researchers in Israel.

Diagnostic techniques based on breath samples have been demonstrated in the past, but until now, there has not been scientific proof of the hypothesis that different and unrelated diseases are characterised by distinct chemical breath signatures.

Technologies developed to date for this type of diagnosis have been limited to detecting a small number of clinical disorders, without differentiation between unrelated diseases.

The study of more than 1,400 patients included 17 different and unrelated diseases: lung cancer, colorectal cancer, head and neck cancer, ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer, stomach cancer, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson's disease (two types), multiple sclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, preeclampsia and chronic kidney disease.

Samples were collected between January 2011 and June 2014 from 14 departments at nine medical centres in five countries: Israel, France, the US, Latvia and China.

Researchers led by Professor Hossam Haick from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel tested the chemical composition of the breath samples using an accepted analytical method (mass spectrometry), which enabled accurate quantitative detection of the chemical compounds they contained.

As many as 13 chemical components were identified, in different compositions, in all 17 of the diseases.

"Each of these diseases is characterised by a unique fingerprint, meaning a different composition of these 13 chemical components," said Haick.

"Just as each of us has a unique fingerprint that distinguishes us from others, each disease has a chemical signature that distinguishes it from other diseases and from a normal state of health. These odour signatures are what enables us to identify the diseases using the technology that we developed," Haick said.

With a new technology called "artificially intelligent nanoarray," developed by Haick, the researchers were able to corroborate the clinical efficacy of the diagnostic technology.

The array enables fast and inexpensive diagnosis and classification of diseases, based on "smelling" the patient's breath and using artificial intelligence to analyse the data obtained from the sensors.

Some of the sensors are based on layers of gold nanoscale particles and others contain a random network of carbon nanotubes coated with an organic layer for sensing and identification purposes.

The study also assessed the efficiency of the artificially intelligent nanoarray in detecting and classifying various diseases using breath signatures.

To verify the reliability of the system, the team also examined the effect of various factors (such as gender, age, smoking habits and geographic location) on the sample composition, and found their effect to be negligible and without impairment on the array's sensitivity.

"Each of the sensors responds to a wide range of exhalation components and integration of the information provides detailed data about the unique breath signatures characteristic of the various diseases," said Haick and his previous PhD student, Morad Nakhleh.

"Our system has detected and classified various diseases with an average accuracy of 86 per cent," they said.

"This is a new and promising direction for diagnosis and classification of diseases, which is characterised not only by considerable accuracy but also by low cost, low electricity consumption, miniaturisation, comfort and the possibility of repeating the test easily," they added.

"Breath is an excellent raw material for diagnosis. It is available without the need for invasive and unpleasant procedures, it's not dangerous, and you can sample it again and again if necessary," Haick added.

The study was published in the journal ACS Nano.

Watch the breathalyser in action in the video below:

http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-watch-new-breathalyser-to-diagnose-diseases-with-just-one-puff-2288596

Gut (Bacteria) Check on Parkinson's: Role of Microbiome

January 2, 2017

Researchers are investigating the role of gut bacteria in Parkinson's and how the microbiome (microorganisms that share our body space) may help us understand more about disease onset, progression and medication response. Our expert panelists also will answer your questons on this emerging field of research.

Title: Gut (Bacteria) Check on Parkinson's: Role of the Microbiome

Date: Thursday, January 19, 2017

Time: 12:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

Duration: 1 hour

https://www.michaeljfox.org/understanding-parkinsons/webinar-registration.php?id=20&e=1339703&k=A39B69F8248B2739CDCB13E7BF33EA83&os_cid=tw-a300P000005r1v5&s_src=MJFFtw&s_subsrc=jan_webinar

Unmotivated to exercise? Dopamine could be to blame

Ana Sandoiu
January 1, 2017

New research links a deficit in dopamine to the lack of physical activity in mice.

Perhaps you have told yourself many times that, as of next week, you will start exercising more. Perhaps next month. Maybe even next year. For many of us, however, sticking to a disciplined program of physical exercise is one of the hardest New Year's resolutions. New research offers clues as to why finding the motivation to exercise can be so difficult.

The benefits of physical activity are well known. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that regular physical activity can reduce the risk of severe illnesses, such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. 

Exercise can also improve one's overall physical and mental health, as well as increase longevity. 

If you are looking to control your weight, the advantages of exercise are numerous. Not only has physical activity been shown to reduce metabolic syndrome - which means that it is good for regulating one's metabolism - but it also burns calories, and in combination with a healthful diet, exercise can help to maintain weight over a long period of time. 

While many people are aware of the benefits of physical activity in theory, many of us find it particularly hard in practice to stay physically active. New research may help to explain why this is so. 

Can dopamine explain lack of physical activity?

Lead researcher Alexxai V. Kravitz - of the Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity Branch at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) - wondered why it is that obese animals have such a hard time doing physical activity. 

The common perception is that animals, or people that are obese, are less physically active because they have to carry much more body weight. However, because Kravitz has a background in Parkinson's disease, he noticed similarities between obese mice and Parkinsonian mice while he was studying.

This triggered his hypothesis that perhaps something else could contribute to physical inactivity.

"We know that physical activity is linked to overall good health, but not much is known about why people or animals with obesity are less active. There is a common belief that obese animals don't move as much because carrying extra body weight is physically disabling. But our findings suggest that assumption does not explain the whole story." 

Alexxai V. Kravitz

Kravitz hypothesized that a dysfunction in rodents' dopamine system might help to explain their lack of physical activity. 

"Other studies have connected dopamine signaling defects to obesity, but most of them have looked at reward processing - how animals feel when they eat different foods. We looked at something simpler: dopamine is critical for movement, and obesity is associated with a lack of movement. Can problems with dopamine signaling alone explain the inactivity?"

Examining dopamine receptors in mice

Researchers set out to examine dopamine signaling in lean and obese mice, and the findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

To do this, they fed a group of eight mice a normal diet, and they fed another group a high-fat diet for 18 weeks. 

Starting from week 2, the mice on a high-fat diet started gaining significantly more weight than the lean ones. By week 4, obese mice spent less time moving, had fewer movements, and were slower when they did move, compared with lean mice. 

Scientists examined whether changes in movement correlated with body weight gain, and they found that it did not. Interestingly, the mice on a high-fat diet moved less before they gained the majority of the weight, which suggests that the extra weight could not have been responsible for the reduced movement. 

To identify the mechanisms behind physical inactivity, Kravitz and team quantified several aspects of dopamine signaling. 

They found that the D-2 type receptor (D2R) binding, found in the striatum, was reduced in obese mice. This was consistent with previous research in rodents. 

Then, scientists genetically removed D2Rs from the striatum of lean mice to determine if there was a causal link between D2Rs and inactivity. Researchers then placed the lean mice on a high-fat diet. 

Surprisingly, they found that these mice did not gain more weight, despite their physical inactivity. 

This suggests that although deficits in striatal D2R contribute to physical inactivity in obesity, such inactivity is more "a consequence than a cause of obesity," as the authors put it.

Dopamine deficit may explain physical inactivity, reducing stigma

Although "there are probably other factors involved as well, the deficit in D2 is sufficient to explain the lack of activity," says Danielle Friend, first author of the study and former NIDDK postdoctoral fellow.

Kravitz mentions that his future research will examine the connection between diet and dopamine signaling. Kravitz and team will investigate whether unhealthful eating affects dopamine signaling, and how quickly mice recover to normal activity levels once they start eating healthfully and losing weight. 

Finally, Kravitz hopes that his research will help to relieve some of the stigma faced by people with obesity. 

"In many cases, willpower is invoked as a way to modify behavior. But if we don't understand the underlying physical basis for that behavior, it is difficult to say that willpower alone can solve it."

Alexxai V. Kravitzhttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314978.php

Donation to help mobility of Parkinson’s patients

January 1, 2017

Parkinson’s patients at the Douglas County Health Center will now have increased independence, thanks to a donation from Parkinson’s Nebraska.

The local nonprofit recently donated a U-Step II Walker with Laser Module to the Health Center, 4102 Woolworth Ave. in Omaha.

The device is the only walker of its kind at the health center, according to Douglas County Public Information Officer Leia Baez. It helps Parkinson’s patients who deal with tremors and gait issues to find balance and stability while being safe.

The walker’s features include a U-shaped base that helps decrease fall risk, a metronome that can be played faster or slower to help patients stay in rhythm while taking steps and a laser that shines a line on the ground to improve gait and encourage patients to take larger steps.

“This is an opportunity to give our Parkinson’s patients an improved quality of life,” said Molly Motsinger, therapy program manager at the Douglas County Health Center. “Whether it’s being able to walk to their meal or just walking around instead of being bound to a wheelchair, this walker gives our patients some independence back while being safe.”

Motsinger said she’s grateful for the donation and hopes to continue working with Parkinson’s Nebraska to benefit local patients.

Parkinson’s Nebraska works to raise awareness and research funds for the neurological movement disorder.

http://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/donation-to-help-mobility-of-parkinson-s-patients/article_81bce5f6-ced3-11e6-ab2c-134f1e2f9d54.html

NZ brain study targets cannabis-like substance

Sunday Jan 1, 2017     Jamie Morton

University of Auckland researchers will attempt to unravel the complex processes involved in the release of dopamine. Photo / 123RF

A recently-discovered cannabis-like substance naturally produced by our brains could play a role in treating Parkinson's disease.

University of Auckland researchers will attempt to unravel the complex processes involved in the release of dopamine - and how what are called endocannabinoids might influence them.

Dopamine is a chemical transmitter that underlies many of our basic behaviours, including movement, but much about the mechanism that determines the timing and size of its release remains unknown.

This has hampered scientists trying to make breakthroughs in diseases where dopamine is involved, such as Parkinson's disease, which today affects around 13,000 Kiwis.

But Dr Peter Freestone, of the university's Department of Physiology, hopes there will be potential in a unique encannabinoid, called NADA, which can alter the activity of dopamine-producing cells.

NADA was exciting to researchers as it shared a common biosynthesis pathway with dopamine, making it important to the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease.

Previous work had already indicated that endocannibanoids should control the electrical activity of dopamine-producing neurons.

"If [NADA] is controlling the electrical activity, it should also be controlling the amount and timing of the dopamine that's released in the brain - that's where this new project comes in and we now want to take it to that next level."

The two-year, $150,000 study to be led by Freestone and colleague Professor Janusz Lipski will draw upon a combination of electrochemistry methods that detect dopamine and optogenetic methods that stimulate specific cell types.

"We can actually use light to activate specific cells that we choose ... and that means we can study these networks in much greater detail."

They expect the work - to be carried out on range of experimental models, from living brain slices to freely moving animals - will ultimately reveal how NADA controls dopamine levels and related movement processes, potentially leading to new therapeutic strategies for diseases like Parkinson's disease.

"This new study is going to be filling in the gaps to see whether we can go forward with a clinical study - we'll know whether endocannibanoids regulate dopamine and whether that's something we could target with drugs or treatments in the future," Freestone said.

"I'm hoping... but then previous work suggests it should be at least an option."

The study is supported by the Auckland Medical Research Foundation.

- NZ Herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=11775445

GOLF: Entries are open for the Parkinson's Golf Day at Cirencester on May 19

December 31, 2016

GOLFERS are being called to “club together” in a tournament to raise funds needed to find a cure for the debilitating Parkinson’s Disease.

The event takes place at Cirencester Golf Club on May 19.

Alan Macdonald, chairman of the Gloucestershire Pairs Challenge organising team said: “It is possible that a breakthrough in finding a cure will happen in 2017. If we can raise just £5,000 it will be a really helpful contribution to the costs."

Alan leads a dedicated team of five organisers – four of them Parkinson’s sufferers – for a competition which is now in its fifth year.

It was launched by David Paul at Minchinhampton GC and has subsequently been played at Cirencester, with increasing success.

Besides raising funds for Parkinson’s UK, the raffle proceeds will go to the local Cirencester and Stroud branch of the charity.

Competition entry costs £79 per pair. This includes coffee beforehand and a two-course meal following the competition. Entry forms are available from golf@minchmike.plus.com.

Sponsors so far include Joerns Health Care and Tetbury Audi. More local companies willing to sponsor a hole, in return for advertising on the tee, should call Alan Macdonald on 01285 861488.

There will be prizes for the Best men's, ladies' and mixed duos, as well as the Best team including a member who has Parkinson's.

Other competitions include longest drive, straightest drive, nearest the pin and hole in one.

Supporters are being sought for hole sponsorship.

Alan MacDonald added: " It is a remarkable event, with so much goodwill towards those who suffer from Parkinson's.

"Those with the illness are resolute that a cure will be found and the competition is a superb way of giving the organisation financial support.

http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/sport/14996203.GOLF__Entries_are_open_for_the_Parkinson_s_Golf_Day_at_Cirencester_on_May_19/

NEW TOOL SHINES LIGHT ON PROTEIN CONDENSATION IN LIVING CELLS

NEUROSCIENCE NEWSDECEMBER 31, 2016

Summary: Researchers have developed a new tool that may help explain how proteins are able to assemble into different states.

Source: Princeton University.

Protein droplets appear as white dots as a cell is exposed to light from a laser. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Princeton University.

A tool that uses light to manipulate matter inside living cells has begun to explain how proteins assemble into different liquid and gel-like solid states, a key to understanding many critical cellular operations.

Marvels of complexity, cells host many thousands of simultaneous chemical reactions. Some reactions happen inside specialized compartments, called organelles. Certain organelles, however, lack any membrane to wall themselves off from the rest of the matter floating within cells. These membraneless organelles somehow persist as self-contained structures amidst a cellular sea of water, proteins, nucleic acids and other molecules.

Scientists at Princeton University have developed a new tool — dubbed optoDroplet — that offers unprecedented access to manipulating and understanding the chemistry that allows membraneless organelles to function.

“This optoDroplet tool is starting to allow us to dissect the rules of physics and chemistry that govern the self-assembly of membraneless organelles,” said Clifford Brangwynne, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton and senior author of a paper published online in Cell on Dec. 29. “The basic mechanisms underlying this process are very poorly understood, and if we get a handle on it, there might be a hope for developing interventions and treatments for devastating diseases connected with protein aggregation, such as ALS.”

Previous research has demonstrated that membraneless organelles assemble within the cell by a process known as a phase transition: examples of familiar phase transitions include water vapor condensing into dew droplets or liquid water freezing into solid ice. Studies over the last several years by Brangwynne and colleagues have revealed that altering the concentration of certain proteins, or modifying their structure, appears to trigger a phase change that allows proteins to condense into droplet-like organelles.

To date, though, most studies have used purified proteins studied in test tubes, and researchers have had few methods to study phase transitions in the frenetic dynamos that are living cells. OptoDroplets will help scientists learn about when phase transitions go awry, yielding solid-like gels and crystalline aggregates of proteins implicated in diseases including Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

OptoDroplet relies on a technique called optogenetics, involving proteins whose behavior can be altered by exposure to light. (Cells are mostly water and thus essentially transparent.) The researchers showed that they could induce phase transitions and create membraneless organelles by switching on the light-activated proteins. They also could undo the transitions by simply turning the light off. Increasing the light intensity and protein concentrations allowed the researchers to further control the transition. By changing those inputs, they can determine when condensed liquid protein droplets form, as well as solid-like, protein aggregates, possibly linked to diseases.

“OptoDroplet provides us a level of control we can use to precisely map what we call the phase diagram in living cells,” said Brangwynne. “With that, we’re beginning to understand how cells use their natural machinery to move through this intracellular phase diagram to assemble different types of organelles.”

The lead author of the paper is Yongdae Shin, a postdoctoral fellow in Brangwynne’s Soft Living Matter Group, part of Princeton’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Co-authors Joel Berry and Mikko Haataja of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering helped develop mathematical models for understanding the intracellular phase behavior, while Nicole Pannucci and Jared Toettcher of the Department of Molecular Biology are experts in optogenetics and helped guide the molecular design of the optoDroplet proteins. The work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Using mouse and human cells, the research team spliced in a gene for a light-sensitive protein from a plant called a mouse-ear cress (or Arabidopsis thaliana,) a relative of cabbage and mustard that is a mainstay of genetics research. Blue light exposure causes the protein to self-associate, scrunching up on itself.

The light-sensitive tag was fused to protein components thought to drive phase transitions in living cells. Using the light, the researchers found that they could induce the proteins to huddle up, mimicking the condensation process that naturally occurs in cells. “To use the analogy of water vapor, you can think of what we did as using a laser to locally change the temperature of some area of the air so that water droplets would condense out of it,” said Brangwynne

.

The team repeatedly prompted the proteins to condense and then dissolve by turning the light on and off. The process proved fully reversible, even after many cycles. However, with high-intensity light or high concentrations of proteins, the researchers created semi-solid gels. Those gels were initially reversible, but over time they solidified to form irreversible lumpy aggregates, similar to those found in some diseases.

“We’ve shown with optoDroplet that we can readily assemble and disassemble phase-separated liquids, and they do not appear to cause any problem for the cell,” said Brangwynne. “But the gel-like assemblies appear to be more problematic, since over many cycles, they develop into persistent aggregates that the cell can no longer deal with and that can start to gum up healthy biological processes.”

One example is the protein called FUS. The FUS protein is critical for the cell’s operations; it helps produce other proteins and repair damaged DNA. But scores of genetic mutations can cause the FUS protein to become too sticky, leading to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. A neurological condition in which patients lose the ability to voluntarily control their muscles, ALS is marked by clumps of protein accumulating in nerve cells. Those clumps might stem from FUS or other proteins pathologically aggregating, instead of staying as dynamic fluid droplets. Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s also involve clumps of proteins clogging up cells, again suggesting that abnormal phase transitions in cells are closely connected with these conditions.

Edward Lemke, a researcher at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, who was not involved in the Cell study, noted the promise of optoDroplet.

“The proteins targeted by optoDroplet are an important constituent of phase-separating proteins, many of which are also associated with infamous diseases,” Lemke said. “The optoDroplet system gives access to modulating the state of these proteins inside the cell in a minimally invasive and highly controlled fashion, so it can provide new insights on how they carry out their function.”

Brangwynne and colleagues look forward to continuing to experiment with optoDroplet to better understand cells’ complex behaviors.

“This is fundamental science we’re doing, answering basic questions about phase transitions in cells,” Brangwynne said. “But we’re hoping these insights will reveal not only how healthy cells work, but also how they can become diseased, and maybe eventually cured.”

ABOUT THIS NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH ARTICLE

Funding: Funding provided by National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation.

Source: Steven Schultz – Princeton University 
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Princeton University.

Original Research: Abstract for “Spatiotemporal Control of Intracellular Phase Transitions Using Light-Activated optoDroplets” by Yongdae Shin, Joel Berry, Nicole Pannucci, Mikko P. Haataja, Jared E. Toettcher, Clifford P. Brangwynne in Cell. Published online December 29 2016 doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.054

Abstract

Spatiotemporal Control of Intracellular Phase Transitions Using Light-Activated optoDroplets

Highlights

•OptoDroplets enable light-activatable control of intracellular phase transitions

•Rapid growth and fast inactivation lead to droplet assembly in subcellular regions

•Cells driven to deep supersaturation form solid-like gels

•Gels are initially reversible but undergo aging into irreversible aggregates

Summary

Phase transitions driven by intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs) have emerged as a ubiquitous mechanism for assembling liquid-like RNA/protein (RNP) bodies and other membrane-less organelles. However, a lack of tools to control intracellular phase transitions limits our ability to understand their role in cell physiology and disease. Here, we introduce an optogenetic platform that uses light to activate IDR-mediated phase transitions in living cells. We use this “optoDroplet” system to study condensed phases driven by the IDRs of various RNP body proteins, including FUS, DDX4, and HNRNPA1. Above a concentration threshold, these constructs undergo light-activated phase separation, forming spatiotemporally definable liquid optoDroplets. FUS optoDroplet assembly is fully reversible even after multiple activation cycles. However, cells driven deep within the phase boundary form solid-like gels that undergo aging into irreversible aggregates. This system can thus elucidate not only physiological phase transitions but also their link to pathological aggregates.

“Spatiotemporal Control of Intracellular Phase Transitions Using Light-Activated optoDroplets” by Yongdae Shin, Joel Berry, Nicole Pannucci, Mikko P. Haataja, Jared E. Toettcher, Clifford P. Brangwynne in Cell. Published online December 29 2016 doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.054

http://neurosciencenews.com/als-optodroplet-5840ation-in-living-cells/

Frequent sauna use may reduce dementia risk in men

January 1, 2017

Men who used saunas frequently were found to be at lower risk of dementia in the new study.

In the first study of its kind, researchers from Finland have identified a link between regular sauna use and reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in men.

Study leader Prof. Jari Laukkanen, of the University of Eastern Finland, and team recently published their findings in the journal Age and Ageing.

According to Alzheimer's Disease International, there are around 46.8 million people worldwide living with dementia. Unless new prevention and treatment strategies are found, this number is expected to reach 131.5 million by 2050.

Previous studies have suggested sauna use may benefit cardiovascular health, but Prof. Laukkanen and team note that no studies had investigated whether sauna use might benefit memory disorders.

To find out, the researchers analyzed the data of 2,315 apparently healthy men aged 42-60 who were part of the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study.

The team divided the men into three groups based on their frequency of sauna use: once a week, two to three times a week, and four to seven times a week.

Participants were followed-up for a median of 20.7 years, during which time 204 cases of dementia and 123 cases of Alzheimer's disease - the most common form of dementia - were diagnosed.

Frequent sauna use lowered dementia risk by 66 percent

The researchers found that men who used a sauna more frequently were at lower risk of dementia, with the risk reducing further with more frequent sauna use.

Compared with men who used a sauna once a week, men who used a sauna four to seven times weekly were found to be at 66 percent lower risk of any dementia and had a 65 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

These results remained after accounting for a number of potentially confounding factors, including participants' age, alcohol intake, smoking status, body mass index, previous heart attack incidence, and diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

Commenting on their findings, the authors write:

"In this male population, moderate to high frequency of sauna bathing was associated with lowered risks of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Further studies are warranted to establish the potential mechanisms linking sauna bathing and memory diseases."

A previous study from Prof. Laukkanen and colleagues associated frequent sauna use with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

The researchers speculate that sauna use increases heart rate in a way that is comparable to exercise, which benefits heart health. This same mechanism could also be beneficial for memory, the team suggest.

"The sense of well-being and relaxation experienced during sauna bathing may also play a role," adds Prof. Laukkanen.

While the study results are certainly interesting, some glaring limitations should be noted. Firstly, the study only included men, so the results cannot be generalized to women. Additionally, very few participants reported never having used a sauna, so it is unclear how frequent sauna use might affect dementia risk in comparison to having never used one.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314841.php