Advances in Research on Neurodegeneration

Neurodegeneration is one of the most important subjects of the investigation now and in the coming 21st century. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly people and Parkinson's disease is one of the major neurologic disorders with the prevalence between 1 and 2/1 000 population in advanced countries. Many others are suffering from intractable neurodegener ative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, or spinocerebellar degeneration. No truly effective treatment is available for any of these neurodegenerative disorders except for Parkinson's disease; even in Parkinson's disease, still it is impossible to slow down the disease process with the currently available treatment. It is urgently needed to develop new effective technique to halt or slow down the disease process in each of those disorders. Recent advance in the molecular biological and molecular genetic technique has brought us great progress in the understanding of etiology and pathogenesis of these disorders, but still it is not known how neurons are going to die in these disorders. To explore the question, mutual cooperation and exchange of ideas between basic scientists and clinical peoples are of utmost importance.

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The "International Winter Conferences on Neurodegeneration" have become an established forum to discuss various aspects of basic and clinical topics related to the underlying mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders. The first part of the book focuses on disease models and mechanisms. The areas discussed include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, glial and neuronal death, and demyelination/remyelination. The second part concentrates on the molecular biology of neurodegeneration. The topics include molecular genetics of neurological disorders, molecular biology of recognition sites, apoptosis, and neuroimmunology and multiple sclerosis. Leading experts have been invited to give state of the art presentations including their own recent data.

Contenu
Treatment strategies for neurodegenerative diseases based on trophic factors and cell transplantation techniques.- Models of Alzheimer's disease: cellular and molecular aspects.- The relationship of Alzheimer-type pathology to dementia in Parkinson's disease.- Models to study the role of neurotrophic factors in neurodegeneration.- Induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by CD4+ T cells specific for an astrocyte protein, S100?.- Immunological aspects of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis and their application for new therapeutic strategies.- Nigrostriatal neuronal death in Parkinson's disease a passive or an active genetically-controlled process?.- Animal model and in vitro studies of anti neurofilament antibodies mediated neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.- Cop 1 as a candidate drug for multiple sclerosis.- Possible role of the cholinergic system and disease models.- Loss of dopaminergic neurons in parkinsonism: possible role of reactive dopamine metabolites.- Role of interferons in demyelinating disease.- Role of interferons in demyelinating diseases.- Mechanism of amyloid ? protein induced neuronal cell death: current concepts and future perspectives.- From prion diseases to Alzheimer's disease.- A phosphorylation cascade in the basal ganglia of the mammalian brain: regulation by the D-1 dopamine receptor. A mathematical model of known biochemical reactions.- Molecular heterogeneity of neurotransporters: implications for neurodegeneration.- Central nervous system cytokines and their relevance for neurotoxicity and apoptosis.- Genetics of multiple sclerosis how could disease-associated HLA-types contribute to pathogenesis?.- Modulation of control mechanisms of dopamine-induced apoptosis a futureapproach to the treatment of Parkinson's disease?.- GTP cyclohydrolase I gene, dystonia, juvenile parkinsonism, and Parkinson's disease.- MRI as a method to reveal in-vivo pathology in MS.- Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.- Chronic administration of a partial agonist at strychnine-insensitive glycine receptors: a novel experimental approach to the treatment of ischemias.- Apoptosis in neurodegenerative disorders: potential for therapy by modifying gene transcription.- Disinhibition-Dementia-Parkinsonism-Amyotrophy Complex (DDPAC) is a non-Alzheimer's frontotemporal dementia.