Publications by authors named "F Cicchetti"

Article Synopsis
  • Research indicates that pathological forms of Tau are present in both Huntington's disease (HD) patients and animal models, suggesting HD may be seen as a secondary tauopathy alongside its main cause, a mutation in the huntingtin gene.
  • Experiments with zQ175 mice showed that injecting Tau fibrils led to cognitive and anxiety-like issues, as well as an increase in harmful mutant huntingtin aggregates in their brains.
  • Further studies with striatal cells revealed that Tau fibrils impair cell functionality and alter levels of heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsp90, indicating potential disruptions in protein quality control and suggesting a complex relationship between Tau and mutant huntingtin in HD.
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JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202502000-00033/figure1/v/2024-05-28T214302Z/r/image-tiff There is a need to develop interventions to slow or reverse the degeneration of dopamine neurons in Parkinson's disease after diagnosis. Given that preclinical and clinical studies suggest benefits of dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid, and exercise in Parkinson's disease, we investigated whether both could synergistically interact to induce recovery of the dopaminergic pathway.

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A number of post-mortem studies conducted in transplanted Huntington's disease (HD) patients from various trials have reported the presence of pathological and misfolded proteins, in particular mutant huntingtin (mHtt) and phosphorylated tau neuropil threads, in the healthy grafted tissue. Here, we extended these observations with histological analysis of post-mortem tissue from three additional HD patients who had received similar striatal allografts from the fetal tissue transplantation trial conducted in Los Angeles in 1998. Immunohistochemical staining was performed using anti-mHtt antibodies, EM48 and MW7, as well as anti-hyperphosphorylated tau antibodies, AT8 and CP13.

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Our limited understanding of complex neurodegenerative disorders has held us back on the development of efficient therapies. While several approaches are currently being considered, it is still unclear what will be most successful. Among the latest and more novel ideas, the concept of blood or plasma transfusion from young healthy donors to diseased patients is gaining momentum and attracting attention beyond the scientific arena.

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