Posted by raybakes on November 20, 2004, at 13:08:38
In reply to Re: Brain energy and brain disease, posted by linkadge on November 20, 2004, at 11:19:41
> galactose ? it that found in certain foods ??
>
>
> LinkadgeIt is, especially in dairy, (part of the disaccharide lactose) but galactose appears to cause problems in excess - just was interested in how it worked with BDNF. Also interested in other saccharides and how they interact with the brain structure and regulation neurotransmitters..
'we find that galectin-1, a member of the family of -galactoside binding proteins, induces astrocyte differentiation, and then the differentiated astrocytes greatly enhance their production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Induction of astrocyte differentiation and BDNF production by an endogenous mammalian lectin may be a new mechanism for preventing neuronal loss after injury.'
and another saccharide sialic acid is involved in sensitizing neurons to BDNF.
'PSA-NCAM modulates BDNF-dependent survival and differentiation of cortical neurons.'
Department of Morphology, University of Geneva Medical School, 1 rue Michel Servet, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
We show that the loss or inactivation of the polysialic acid (PSA) tail of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) on rat cortical neurons in culture leads to reduced differentiation and survival. The mechanism by which this negative effect is mediated appears to involve the neuronal response to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF): (i) in the absence of PSA or in the presence of excess free PSA added to the culture medium, BDNF-induced cell signalling is reduced; (ii) the addition of exogenous BDNF to the medium reverses the effect of PSA loss or inactivation. These data suggest that PSA-NCAM, previously shown to modulate cell migration and plasticity, is needed for an adequate sensitivity of neurons to BDNF.
Ray
poster:raybakes
thread:417331
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041108/msgs/418269.html