A gene - MKP-1 was increased in the brain tissues of depressed individuals. A study showed that when the MKP-1 gene is stopped the mice become resilient to stress. However, when the gene is activated, mice exhibit symptoms that similar to depression
Reference:
Vanja Duric, Mounira Banasr, Pawel Licznerski, Heath D Schmidt, Craig A Stockmeier, Arthur A Simen, Samuel S Newton, Ronald S Duman. A negative regulator of MAP kinase causes depressive behavior. Nature Medicine
Researchers have found that ABCB4 gene, is defective in patients with high cholesterol thus leading to an impairment in the transport of fats from the liver into bile to facilitate removal of cholesterol from the body. Defective ABCB4 protein was found to impair cholesterol excretion & caused bad cholesterol to accumulate.
Reference:
Michael C. Mahaney, Ph.D., Rampratap S. Kushwaha, Ph.D., and Jane F. VandeBerg,Chan et al.. ABCB4 mediates diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in laboratory opossums. The Journal of Lipid Research
A new study has shown that the accumulation of brain glutamate levels in nerve cell junctions (synapses) causes the initiation of a migraine.
DNA variant on Chromosome 8 between two genes -- PGCP and MTDH/AEG-1 -- have a greater risk for developing migraine
MTDH/AEG-1 regulates the EAAT2 gene: the protein responsible for clearing glutamate from brain synapses.
Reference:
Verneri Anttila, Hreinn Stefansson, Mikko Kallela, Unda Todt, Gisela M Terwindt, M Stella Calafato, Dale R Nyholt, Antigone S Dimas, Tobias Freilinger, Bertram Müller-Myhsok, Ville Artto, Michael Inouye, Kirsi Alakurtti, Mari A Kaunisto, Eija Hämäläinen, Boukje de Vries, Anine H Stam, Claudia M Weller, Axel Heinze, Katja Heinze-Kuhn, Ingrid Goebel, Guntram Borck, Hartmut Göbel, Stacy Steinberg, Christiane Wolf, Asgeir Björnsson, Gretar Gudmundsson, Malene Kirchmann, Anne Hauge, Thomas Werge, Jean Schoenen, Johan G Eriksson, Knut Hagen, Lars Stovner, H-Erich Wichmann, Thomas Meitinger, Michael Alexander, Susanne Moebus, Stefan Schreiber, Yurii S Aulchenko, Monique M B Breteler, Andre G Uitterlinden, Albert Hofman, Cornelia M van Duijn, Päivi Tikka-Kleemola, Salli Vepsäläinen, Susanne Lucae, Federica Tozzi, Pierandrea Muglia, Jeffrey Barrett, Jaakko Kaprio, Markus Färkkilä, Leena Peltonen, Kari Stefansson, John-Anker Zwart, Michel D Ferrari, Jes Olesen, Mark Daly, Maija Wessman, Arn M J M van den Maagdenberg, Martin Dichgans, Christian Kubisch, Emmanouil T Dermitzakis, Rune R Frants, Aarno Palotie. Genome-wide association study of migraine implicates a common susceptibility variant on 8q22.1. Nature Genetics
New research has shown that a handful of genes may cause some cases of ALS. A new technique known as exome sequencing focuses on only the 1 percent to 2 percent of the genome that codes for proteins and simultaneously sequences thousands of genes at the same time, and is faster faster. Using exome sequencing scientists have found that mutations in the valosin-containing protein might lead to ALS. Valosin-containing protein affects ubiquination(a process which tags proteins for degradation) causing an imbalance in motor proteins in the body.
