If you follow me on social media pages I apologize for the repeat post, but I think this story is too fascinating not to share widely. Last week researchers at OHSU announced they’d completed the first map of brain cell glutamate receptor structure. I know this sounds less than enticing as a Monday morning read, but it really is groundbreaking news. You can read the full feature here.
The condensed version is that while it’s know throughout the scientific community that glutamate plays a role in diseases like Alzheimer’s, no one previously understood the complexity of its structure. Mapping the structure is step one in gaining a better understanding of Alzheimer’s and potentially creating new therapies. This is also an example of the kind of research that NIH funding allows scientists to perform and why it’s so imperative that we support encourage our Congressional leaders to back the Alzheimer’s Breakthrough Act. While there’s still a long way to go in understanding Alzheimer’s, it’s exciting to see innovative research like this happening right here.
This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am and is filed under Alzheimer's Info, Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
