OHSU researchers make inroads into the understanding of Rett syndrome
Recent research from Agnieszka Balkowiec, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of integrative biosciences in the School of Dentistry, and published in Neuroscience, makes advances in Rett syndrome—a neurological disorder affecting one in 10,000 baby girls. The research team found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is essential for development and plasticity of nerve cells but that it appears to be missing in those with Rett syndrome neuronal mutations. Intriguingly, these mutant neurons don’t produce enough BDNF in response to low oxygen, while in contrast normal neurons increase production. The research team also includes John M. Bissonnette,, M.D. professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and cell and developmental biology in the OHSU School of Medicine, as well as Anke Vermehren-Schmaedick, Ph.D., OHSU Department of Biomedical Engineering; and Sharon J. Knopp, a research assistant in Bissonnette’s lab. For more details on this breakthrough, see this.
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