CANADIAN SCIENTISTS DEVELOP NEW APPROACH TO NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE

Toronto ö July 14, 2000: Canadian Genetic Diseases Network researchers at the University of Toronto, Hospital for Sick Children, Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics, and the University of British Columbia have developed a new model for neuronal cell death. Neurons are the irreplaceable cells of the nervous system that carry information to and from the brain.

Publishing their findings July 12 in the leading scientific journal, Nature, the group has shown that mutant genes that contribute to inherited neurodegenerative conditions such as retinal degeneration, Huntington disease and Parkinson disease confer a constant risk of programmed cell death. Previous research findings had led scientists to believe that the impact of mutant genes on nerve cells was cumulative, causing damage which eventually killed the cells. The new study, under the direction of senior author Dr. Roderick McInnes of Toronto, points to a new approach to finding treatments for diseases caused by neuronal cell death.

Lead author in the study, Geoff Clar