Effects of the low-carb organic Mediterranean diet on testosterone levels and sperm DNA fragmentation.

The causes of male infertility can vary. Lifestyles, environmental factors, stressful conditions, and socio-economic conditions are significant factors. Diet plays a crucial role in improving a man's reproductive capacity.

Expression of Cholinergic Markers and Characterization of Splice Variants during Ontogenesis of Rat Dorsal Root Ganglia Neurons.

Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons synthesize acetylcholine (ACh), in addition to their peptidergic nature. They also release ACh and are cholinoceptive, as they express cholinergic receptors. During gangliogenesis, ACh plays an important role in neuronal differentiation, modulating neuritic outgrowth and neurospecific gene expression.

Passive immunotherapy for N-truncated tau ameliorates the cognitive deficits in two mouse Alzheimer's disease models.

Clinical and neuropathological studies have shown that tau pathology better correlates with the severity of dementia than amyloid plaque burden, making tau an attractive target for the cure of Alzheimer's disease. We have explored whether passive immunization with the 12A12 monoclonal antibody (26-36aa of tau protein) could improve the Alzheimer's disease phenotype of two well-established mouse models, Tg2576 and 3xTg mice. 12A12 is a cleavage-specific monoclonal antibody which selectively binds the pathologically relevant neurotoxic NH26-230 fragment (i.

Transient upregulation of translational efficiency in prodromal and early symptomatic Tg2576 mice contributes to Aβ pathology.

TG2576 mice show highest levels of the full length mutant Swedish Human Amyloid Precursor Protein (APPKM670/671LN) during prodromal and early sympotomatic stages. Interestingly, this occurs in association with the unbalanced expression of two of its RNA Binding proteins (RBPs) opposite regulators, the Fragile-X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP) and the heteronuclear Ribonucleoprotein C (hnRNP C). Whether an augmentation in overall translational efficiency also contributes to the elevation of APP levels at those early developmental stages is currently unknown.

Dynamic structural determinants underlie the neurotoxicity of the N-terminal tau 26-44 peptide in Alzheimer's disease and other human tauopathies.

The intrinsically disordered tau protein plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other human tauopathies. Abnormal post-translational modifications of tau, such as truncation, are causally involved in the onset/development of these neurodegenerative diseases. In this context, the AD-relevant N-terminal fragment mapping between 26 and 44 amino acids of protein (tau26-44) is interesting, being endowed with potent neurotoxic effects in vitro and in vivo.

Extracellular truncated tau causes early presynaptic dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies.

The largest part of tau secreted from AD nerve terminals and released in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is C-terminally truncated, soluble and unaggregated supporting potential extracellular role(s) of NH -derived fragments of protein on synaptic dysfunction underlying neurodegenerative tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we show that sub-toxic doses of extracellular-applied human NH tau 26-44 (aka NH htau) -which is the minimal active moiety of neurotoxic 20-22kDa peptide accumulating at AD synapses and secreted into parenchyma- acutely provokes presynaptic deficit in K -evoked glutamate release on hippocampal synaptosomes along with alteration in local Ca dynamics. Neuritic dystrophy, microtubules breakdown, deregulation in presynaptic proteins and loss of mitochondria located at nerve endings are detected in hippocampal cultures only after prolonged exposure to NH htau.

The Intersection of NGF/TrkA Signaling and Amyloid Precursor Protein Processing in Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathology.

Dysfunction of nerve growth factor (NGF) and its high-affinity Tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) receptor has been suggested to contribute to the selective degeneration of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCN) associated with the progressive cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this review is to describe our progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the dynamic interplay between NGF/TrkA signaling and amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism within the context of AD neuropathology. This is mainly based on the finding that TrkA receptor binding to APP depends on a minimal stretch of ~20 amino acids located in the juxtamembrane/extracellular domain of APP that carries the α- and β-secretase cleavage sites.

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of a 20-22 kDa NH2 fragment of human tau provide a novel neuronal injury biomarker in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Truncation at N-terminal domain of tau protein is early associated with neurofibrillary pathology in several human tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). In affected subjects, the monitoring of total (t-tau) and/or phosphorylated tau (p-tau) levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) provides a reliable, indirect evaluation of cellular changes occurring in vivo and the identification of additional CSF biomarkers would better assist with the clinical practice, allowing a broader profile of underlying ongoing neurodegeneration. Here we show that a 20-22 kDa NH2-truncated form of human tau (i.

Morphological and bioenergetic demands underlying the mitophagy in post-mitotic neurons: the pink-parkin pathway.

Evidence suggests a striking causal relationship between changes in quality control of neuronal mitochondria and numerous devastating human neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Contrary to replicating mammalian cells with a metabolism essentially glycolytic, post-mitotic neurons are distinctive owing to (i) their exclusive energetic dependence from mitochondrial metabolism and (ii) their polarized shape, which entails compartmentalized and distinct energetic needs. Here, we review the recent findings on mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy in differentiated neurons focusing on how the exceptional characteristics of neuronal populations in their morphology and bioenergetics needs make them quite different to other cells in controlling the intracellular turnover of these organelles.

Interaction between NH(2)-tau fragment and Aβ in Alzheimer's disease mitochondria contributes to the synaptic deterioration.

Although amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide can promote tau pathology and its toxicity is concurrently tau-dependent, the underlying mechanisms of the in vivo interplay of these proteins remain unsolved. Structural and functional mitochondrial alterations play an early, precipitating role in synaptic failure of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis and an aggravated mitochondrial impairment has been described in triple APP/PS/tau transgenic mice carrying both plaques and tangles, if compared with mice overexpressing tau or amyloid precursor protein (APP) alone. Here, we show that a neurotoxic aminoterminal (NH(2))-derived tau fragment mapping between 26 and 230 amino acids of the human tau40 isoform (441 amino acids)-but not the physiological full-length protein-preferentially interacts with Aβ peptide(s) in human AD synapses in association with mitochondrial adenine nucleotide translocator-1 (ANT-1) and cyclophilin D.

A NH2 tau fragment targets neuronal mitochondria at AD synapses: possible implications for neurodegeneration.

Synapses are ultrastructural sites for memory storage in brain, and synaptic damage is the best pathologic correlate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Post-translational hyperphosphorylation, enzyme-mediated truncation, conformational modifications, and aggregation of tau protein into neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are hallmarks for a heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative disorders, so-called tauopathies. AD is a secondary tauopathy since it is pathologically distinguished by the presence of amyloid-beta (Abeta)-containing senile plaques and the presence of tau-positive NFTs in the neocortex and hippocampus.

Spontaneous aggregation and altered intracellular distribution of endogenous alpha-synuclein during neuronal apoptosis.

The precursor of the non-amyloid-beta component of Alzheimer's disease amyloid (NACP), also known as alpha-synuclein, is a presynaptic terminal molecule that accumulates in the senile plaques of Alzheimer's disease. Aberrant accumulation of this protein into insoluble aggregates has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of many other neurodegenerative diseases, collectively referred to as synucleinopathies. However, the precise pathogenetic mechanism that leads to aggregate formation and the consequent cellular damage remains elusive.