Protect your brain from stress!
Researchers at the University of Southern California, working under the guidance of Professor Kelvin J. A. Davies, in experiments on rats found that chronic stress, both physical and mental, causes overexpression of the RCAN1 gene in brain cells, which contributes to the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
The expression of the RCAN1 gene helps a healthy person cope with acute stress, but an excessive amount of its protein product damages neurons and disrupts the transmission of nerve impulses. This can lead to the development of neurodegenerative diseases, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease.
Experiments on conventional and genetically modified (producing an excess of RCAN1) rats have shown that chronic hyperproduction of the RCAN1 protein leads to hyperphosphorylation (attachment of excess phosphate residues) of tau proteins in brain cells. The function of these proteins is to stabilize the microtubules that form the cytoskeleton of neurons. Their hyperphosphorylation leads to the appearance and accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles in cells, which are the main histological sign of Alzheimer's disease.
The formation of neurofibrillary tangles gradually kills neurons, which is manifested by an increasing deterioration of human cognitive functions, recognized as a neurodegenerative disease.
Currently, there are two competing theories explaining the main cause of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease: hyperproduction of beta-amyloid protein and hyperphospholyriation of tau proteins.
Professor Davis and his colleagues believe that overexpression of RCAN1 is a link for these two mechanisms.
Chronic overexpression of RCAN1 from birth is characteristic of brain cells of people with Down syndrome. In such individuals, neurofibrillary tangles begin to form at a very early age, and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease usually appear by the age of 40.
The researchers also identified a relationship between insufficient production of RCAN1 and Huntington's disease, a rare hereditary disease of the nervous system characterized by progressive impairment of physical and mental functions at the age of 35-50 years.
Thus, the results obtained indicate that the content of the RCAN1 protein in brain cells should not go beyond a fairly narrow range, since any violations of this equilibrium entail very serious consequences.
Article by Gennady Ermak et al. Do RCAN1 proteins link chronic stress with neurodegeneration? published on June 16 in the preliminary on-line version of FASEB Journal.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the University of Southern California: USC Scientists Discover Mechanism by Which Chronic Stress Causes Brain Disease.
01.07.2011