The Rett syndrome (RTT) and the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders which, although presenting different symptoms and evolution, are linked by a common factor: mutations in the same gene, called MECP2. But the answers on how and why the same gene could have a key role in the development of both diseases have […]
Author Archives: Luca Maggioni
38 posts published by Luca Maggioni
The big challenge of the brain circuits
One of the most complicated and fascinating challenges for the neuroscientists is how to link the architecture, the wiring and the electric messages of the neuronal circuits to our behavior and emotions. To date, the desire of understanding this correspondence is simply unrealistic: the reason lies in numbers. 302: is the number of neurons that […]
D-Serine dietary supplement as a therapeutic strategy against Rett-like severe encephalopathy: a case study
Here we present the abstract from a recently published article on a Rett-like encephalopathy case study, with the participation of the scientific team of the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.
New roles of microglia in brain pathophysiology
Microglia cells represent, depending on the species, from 5% to 20% of the glial cells in the adult brain. It is commonly accepted that microglia precursors originate in the yolk sac – as the tissue specific macrophages – although their identity has not been confirmed so far. Once the development of the blood-brain barrier is […]
Anti-inflammatory drugs can reverse synaptic defects
Inflammation modifies risk and/or severity of a variety of brain diseases through still elusive molecular mechanisms. Tomasoni et al. (open access article available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5370184/) show that hyperactivation of the interleukin 1 pathway, through either removal of the interleukin 1 receptor 8 (IL-1R8,) or activation of IL-1R, leads to up-regulation of the mTOR pathway and […]
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