105 results about "Motor neurone" patented technology

The present invention relates to the use of creatine compound and neuroprotective combinations including creatine, creatine phosphate or analogs of creatine, such as cyclocreatine, for treating diseases of the nervous system. Creatine compounds in combination with neuroprotective agents can be used as therapeutically effective compositions against a variety of diseases of the nervous system such as diabetic and toxic neuropathies, peripheral nervous system diseases, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson's disease, stroke, Huntington's disease, amyotropic lateral sclerosis, motor neuron disease, traumatic nerve injury, multiple sclerosis, dysmyelination and demyelination disorders, and mitochondrial diseases. The creatine compounds which can be used in the present method include (1) creatine, creatine phosphate and analogs of these compounds which can act as substrates or substrate analogs for creatine kinase; (2) bisubstrate inhibitors of creatine kinase comprising covalently linked structural analogs of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine; (3) creatine analogs which can act as reversible or irreversible inhibitors of creatine kinase; and (4) N-phosphorocreatine analogs bearing non-transferable moieties which mimic the N-phosphoryl group.

There is disclosed herein a composition for treating gastrointestinal or neurological disorders, constipation, functional constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, travelers diarrhea, chronic idiopathic nausea, IBD-associated constipation and diarrhea, pseudo-obstruction, diabetic gastroparesis, cyclic vomiting, reflux oesophagitis, autism enteropathy, flatulence, halitosis, chronic fatigue, bloating, proctalgia fugax, Parkinsons disease, MS, Alzheimers Disease, Motor Neurone Disease or autism, the composition comprising: (i) at least two anti-clostridial agents selected from the group consisting of: vancomycin, vancomycin derivatives, a multi-valent polymer of vancomycin, aminoglycosides, nitroimidazoles, ansamysins, nifuroxazide, colchicine, prucalopride, prokinetic agent and 5-aminosalicylic acid; or (ii) at least one anti-clostridial agent selected from the above combined with an opioid blocking agent. There is also disclosed herein a method of treating various gastrointestinal or neurological disorders, constipation, functional constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, travelers diarrhea, chronic idiopathic nausea, IBD-associated constipation and diarrhea, pseudo-obstruction, diabetic gastroparesis, cyclic vomiting, reflux oesophagitis, autism enteropathy, flatulence, halitosis, chronic fatigue, bloating, proctalgia fugax, Parkinsons disease, MS, Alzheimers Disease, Motor Neurone Disease or autism, the method comprising administering orally, via enema or by suppository: (i) a composition of the invention; (ii) at least two anti-clostridial agents selected from the group consisting of: vancomycin, vancomycin derivatives, a multi-valent polymer of vancomycin, aminoglycosides, nitroimidazoles, ansamysins, nifuroxazide, colchicine, prucalopride, prokinetic agent and 5-aminosalicylic acid; or (iii) at least one anti-clostridial agent selected from the above and an opioid blocking agent to a patient in need of such treatment.

The present invention relates to the discovery of the human survival motor-neuron gene or SMD gene, which is a chromosome 5-SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) determining gene. The present invention further relates to the nucleotide sequence encoding the SMN gene and corresponding amino acid sequence, a vector containing the gene encoding the SMN protein or a DNA sequence corresponding to the gene and transformant strains containing the SMN gene or a DNA sequence corresponding to the gene.

The invention belongs to the technical field of in-vitro nucleic acid detection and especially relates to a relative quantitative detection method of human motor neuron gene copy numbers and a kit thereof. According to the invention, specific primers and probes to the seventh and eighth exons of SMN1 and SMN2 genes and reference gene RPP40 are respectively designed; at the same time, qualitative detection primers and probes are also designed for three hot spot mutations of Y272C, 11bp-DUP and 4bp-DEL of the SMN1 gene. The kit comprises a container containing detection primer and probe compositions, a reference container and a PCR reaction liquid container. Relative quantitative determinations to the copy numbers of the seventh and eighth exons of SMN1 (in the first and second PCR reactions) and the seventh and eighth exons of SMN2 (in the third and fourth PCR reactions) and qualitative detection to the three hot spot mutations of Y272C, 11bp-DUP and 4bp-DEL (in the fifth PCR reactions) are respectively performed by 5 independent PCR reactions. The kit is strong in specificity, high in sensitivity, convenient, fast and applicable to large-scale popularization and application.

The present invention is directed to a method of isolating an enriched or purified population of motor neurons from a population of embryonic stem cells. This method involves providing a population of embryonic stem cells and selecting a promoter or enhancer which functions only in the motor neurons selected. A nucleic acid molecule encoding a marker protein under control of the promoter or enhancer is introduced into the induced population of embryonic stem cells. The motor neurons are allowed to express the marker protein and, the cells expressed in the marker protein are separated from the population of embryonic stem cells. The population of embryonic stem cells can be induced to produce a mixed population of cells comprising motor neurons before or after a nucleic acid molecule encoding the marker protein under control of the promoter enhancer is introduced into the population of embryonic stem cells. As a result, an enriched or purified population of motor neurons is isolated.

The invention relates to indole-derived compounds and to the use of said compounds for the preparation of a medicament that can be used to treat diseases related to the process of splicing pre-messenger RNAs in the cell, such as Frasier syndrome, frontotemporal dementia linked to chromonsoem 17 (a form of Parkinson's disease), Leigh syndrome (a type of encephalopathy), atypical cystic fibrosis, certain neuropathologies including Alzheimer's disease linked to a mutation in the Tau protein, muscle atorphy which affects the SMN (survival of Motor Neuron) gene, depression linked to a serotonin splicing impairment, and certain cancers in which the global splicing process is affected (e.g. breast cancer, colon cancer and certain lymphomas), as well as viral diseases such as AIDS.

This invention defines novel research and clinical laboratory methodology and compositions related thereto appropriate for use in (a) determining the presence of a neurodegenerative disease selected from the group limited solely to Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, familial Alzheimer's disease, familial Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, Friedreich'a ataxia, giant axon neuropathy, juvenile ceroid-lipofuscinosis, familial motor neuron diseases, juvenile diabetic polyneuropathy and Down's syndrome, (b) monitoring the ongoing status of the physiological expression of said disease and (c) screening candidate therapeutic drug agents for possible effectiveness. The invention is based on the new and novel observation that the presence of a neurodegenerative disease can be characterized in part by the expression in cultured fibroblasts obtained from the patient of one or more proteins which are not the product of a defective disease-inducing gene, but which are stress proteins, one or more other proteins modified by conditions of oxidative stress or one or more other disease-related proteins. The invention depends on living cell material, namely fibroblasts, which are readily and, if necessary, repeatedly available from a patient. When adapted as a method and composition useful for the screening candidate therapeutic drug agents for possible effectiveness, this technology offers advantages in terms of (a) providing research opportunities which, in some cases, never existed before, (b) cost effectiveness when compared to alternative technologies, (c) ability to be used readily on a large scale, (d) ability to generate meaningful data in a comparatively short period of time, and (e) providing an early stage opportunity to obtain information based on direct interaction of a candidate drug and a living tissue disease model. Various aspects of diagnostic methods and compositions are also disclosed.

The invention relates to a biotechnology and especially relates to a construction method of a glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor gene-modified embryo neural stem cell. The construction method comprises the following steps of 1, plasmid transformation, 2, plasmid digestion purification, 3, target gene and vector cloning, 4, recombinant plasmid packaging, 5, recombinant plasmid identification, 6, virus titer determination, 7, stem cell culture, 8, virus infection of the stem cells, 9, transgenic stem cell identification, 10, transgenic stem cell target-protein content determination, and 11, transgenic stem cell biological-activity detection. The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor gene-modified embryo neural stem cell has strong effects of promoting survival of dopaminergic neurons and retains characteristics of the original neural stem cell. The glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor gene-modified embryo neural stem cell has good effects of treating motor neuron damage diseases and neuronal degeneration diseases.

The invention provides a method for determining residual organic solvents in the freeze-dried injection of a traditional Chinese medicine composition. The raw materials of the freeze-dried injection of the Chinese medicine include ginseng and epimedium, which are clinically used for motor neuron diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, progressive bulbar palsy, primary lateral sclerosis), progressive muscular dystrophy, congenital myopathy and other diseases caused by muscular atrophy and myasthenia gravis, the method of the present invention uses the top The residual amount of organic solvent can be determined by air chromatography, which can be used for the quality control of the product.

The invention provides a traditional Chinese medicinal composition freeze-drying injection and a preparation method thereof. The traditional Chinese medicament freeze-drying injection is prepared from raw materials comprising ginseng and epimedium herb by extraction and refinement of a modern process and then by a freeze-drying process. The traditional Chinese medicament preparation meets technical requirements of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) on the traditional Chinese medicament injection and is clinically applied to treatment on amyotrophy and myasthenia gravis caused by diseases such as motor neuron diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, progressive spinal muscular atrophy, progressive bulbar palsy and primary lateral sclerosis), progressive myodystrophy, congenital myopathy and the like. The traditional Chinese medicament freeze-drying injection is administrated clinically through intravenous, intramuscular or acupoint injection.

A method for determining the level of survival motor neuron (SMN) protein in a whole blood or cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) sample, for example, a whole blood lysate sample or a CSF sample, including obtaining a whole blood or cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) sample from the subject and conducting an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay to determine the level of SMN in the whole blood or cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) sample.

Disclosed are methods and systems for non-invasive ultrasound neuromodulation of superficial cortex of the brain or stimulation of nerve roots or peripheral nerves. Such stimulation is used for such purposes as determination of motor threshold, demonstrating whether connectivity to peripheral nerves or motor neurons exists and performing nerve conduction-speed studies. Neuromodulation of the brain allows treatment of conditions such as depression via stimulating superficial neural structures that have connections to deeper involved centers. Imaging is optional.

An object of the present invention is to provide an agent effective for the treatment and / or prevention of motor neuron disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The present invention provides a therapeutic and / or preventive agent for motor neuron disease comprising the following oligopeptide shown in any of (a) to (c) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof as an active ingredient: (a) an oligopeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence represented by Ser-Ala-Leu-Leu-Arg-Ser-Ile-Pro-Ala (SEQ ID NO: 1); (b) an oligopeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence having a deletion, substitution, insertion, or addition of one or several amino acids in Ser-Ala-Leu-Leu-Arg-Ser-Ile-Pro-Ala (SEQ ID NO: 1), and having an activity that inhibits neuronal cell death caused by a mutant superoxide dismutase-1 gene; and (c) a modified oligopeptide from the oligopeptide (a) or (b).

The invention discloses a comprehensive magnetic resonance imaging device. According to the invention, the cerebral function imaging, the MRI perfusion weighted imaging and the magnetic resonance diffusion imaging are united, so that the assessment for the cerebral injury caused by motor neuron disease and Parkinson disease is assisted, a beneficial judging basis is supplied for illness state judgment, and the accuracy rate of disease judgment is increased; an ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patient is accompanied with FTD (frontal temporal dementia), so that the detection means, such as cortex thickness, also is beneficial to the disease diagnose and research; functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging techniques have strong complementarity; the combination of the functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging techniques has a wide application prospect in neurosciences research; unique brain structure and function information can be supplied.

The present invention provides methods for inducing differentiation of an embryonic stem cell into a motor neuron using a motoneuronotrophic factor (MNTF) or its peptide analogues. The present invention further provides a method for isolating a population of stem cell derived motor neurons and a population of cells comprising the differentiated neural cells. Additionally, the present invention is directed to a method of enhancing the survival of the differentiated neural cells in long term cell cultures. Finally, the present invention provides compositions containing MNTF or its peptide analogs for therapeutic use in conjunction with stem cells.

The invention discloses a human motor neuron gene copy number relative quantitative detection method and a detection kit. The kit provided by the invention contains a single-stranded DNA group A for specifically detecting the seventh exon of the SMN gene and / or a single-stranded DNA group B for specifically detecting the eighth exon of the SMN gene, and each single-stranded DNA group consists of acommon primer and two probes for respectively detecting the SMN1 gene and the SMN2 gene. The kit is high in accuracy and good in repeatability. The method has important significance for rapidly screening SMN1 gene and SMN2 copy number and reducing birth rate of SMA children patients.

The invention provides novel FUS / TLS nucleic acids and proteins that comprise one or more genetic markers (for example, single nucleotide polymorphisms) and methods of use thereof including methods relating to the diagnosis of ALS or other related motor neuron disease by virtue of the presence of the mutant FUS / TLS sequence(s).

This document relates to methods and materials for assessing and / or treating a mammal (e.g., a human) having, or at risk of developing, a spinal condition (e.g., spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)). In some cases, a mammal can be identified as having, or as being likely to develop, a spinal condition (e.g., SMA), and, optionally, can be treated. For example, a mammal can be identified as having, or as being likely to develop, a spinal condition (e.g., SMA), based, at least in part, on the modification of nucleic acid that can encode a survival motor neuron (SMN) polypeptide (e.g., homozygous deletion of exon 7 of SMN1 nucleic acid encoding a SMN polypeptide and the genomic copy number of SMN2 nucleic acid encoding a SMN polypeptide) in a sample from a mammal and, optionally, can be treated.

The present invention includes assays and kits for detecting the assembly of an RNA binding protein-RNA complex and for detecting the activity of an RNA binding protein.

The present invention relates to methods for promoting motor neuron survival, treating or preventing neurodegenerative disorders, identifying agents that promote survival of motor neurons, identifying agents that are useful for treating neurodegenerative disorders, diagnosing neurodegenerative disorders, predicting the progression of a neurodegenerative disorder in a subject, and monitoring the effectiveness of a therapy in reducing the progression of a neurodegenerative disorder in a subject.

Methods for treatment and / or prevention of nerve degeneration in mammals using aza-peptide epoxide caspase inhibitors are provided. Aspects of the present disclosure include aza-peptide epoxide compositions to treat or prevent diseases, for example stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathies, Huntington's disease, dentatorubropallidoluysian atrophy, spinocerebellar atrophies, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other motor neuron diseases. The disclosed methods can be used in combination with calpain inhibitors to treat disease or pathological conditions related to the activity of caspases and calpain associated with a specific disease or condition. Such treatable conditions include stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathies, Huntington's disease, dentatorubropallidoluysian atrophy, spinocerebellar atrophies, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, nerve degeneration associated with diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other motor neuron diseases, nerve degeneration secondary to primary demyelinating disorders, among others.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a clinical syndrome caused by insufficient insulin secretion for insulin requirements. described herein are compositions and methods for microphysiological MPS models of disease (MODs) for diabetes. These platforms allow one to compare the effect of chronic β-cell stimulation in the presence and absence of patient specific immune cells in IPSC-derived islets from each group. Additionally, one can reproduce the T2D β-cell phenotype, using islets-on-chips will also be exposed to gluco-lipotoxicity. Likewise, skeletal muscle-on-chips are exposed to patient specific activated immune cells, variable motor neuron innervation and lipids characteristic of T2D.

Methods are disclosed for the initiation and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into motor neuron progenitor cells (MNPs). Methods are also disclosed for the cryopreservation of MNPs. The methods particularly relate to the simple, efficient, scalable, and reproducible generation, and subsequent frozen maintenance, of MNPs for downstream therapeutic applications. The methods can be used for the production of MNPs from various lines of hESCs and iPSCs.

The invention discloses an application of a polypyrimidine sequence binding protein silencing agent combined with retinoic acid and purinine amine in preparation of a medicine for repairing spinal cord injury, and belongs to the technical field of biological medicine. The polypyrimidine sequence binding protein (PTB) is silenced in vitro through a virus, and meanwhile, micromolecule retinoic acid (RA) and purinol amine (PMA) which are related to motor neuron differentiation are jointly added, so that mouse spinal cord reactive astrocytes are successfully reprogrammed into motor neuron; and help is provided for further in-vivo research on the effect of a PTB combined micromolecule reprogramming strategy in spinal cord injury post-repair, so that better spinal cord injury repair and function reconstruction effects are realized.

The present invention provides a method for evaluating physiological state of motor neurons in a subject. The method comprises detecting an expression level of a nuclear receptor interaction protein (NRIP) in a biological sample from the subject; and comparing the expression level of the NRIP to a control value for NRIP; wherein detecting a decrease of the expression level of the NRIP in the biological sample from the subject as compared to the control value for NRIP indicates an abnormal function of the motor neurons of the subject

The invention discloses application of a composition containing an MG 53 mutant in preparation of neuroprotective drugs. The research results prove that the MG53 mutant has a prominent neuroprotectiveeffect and can cross the blood-brain barrier, thus being applied to prevention or treatment of multiple neurodegenerative diseases such as ischemic stroke, brain atrophy, senile dementia, multiple system atrophy, brain atrophy, motor neuron diseases, ataxia telangiectasia, spinal muscular atrophy and optic atrophy.

The invention relates to a composition containing cannabidiol for treating muscle spasm and a preparation method of the composition, and belongs to the technical field of pharmaceutical compositions.In order to solve the problem that in the prior art, muscle spasm cannot be treated effectively, the invention provides a composition containing the cannabidiol for treating the muscle spasm. The composition comprises the cannabidiol, cimicin, safflower total flavone and curcumin. Medicinal components are uniformly dispersed in a gel prepared from sodium polyacrylate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, alum, EDTA and propylene glycol, and medicine-carrying gel coats a substrate with tourmaline powder to obtain a gel application composition. The composition is applied to muscle spasm while hot application.The medicinal components can be rapidly and transdermally absorbed and permeated to abnormal motor neurons in an affected area, local blood circulation is promoted, and stimulation and compression ofthe motor nerves are relieved, the muscle spasm is promoted to stop as soon as possible, and pain of a patient is relieved.

The invention belongs to the field of biomedicine, and particularly relates to application of RABGGTB in diagnosis and treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The invention also provides an application of RABGGTB in preparation of drugs for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and protection of motor neurons. Specifically, the RABGGTB refers to a biological material for expressing the RABGGTB or promoting the expression of the RABGGTB, or a composition containing the biological material.

The present invention provides methods for inducing differentiation of an embryonic stem cell into a motor neuron using a motoneuronotrophic factor (MNTF) or its peptide analogs. The present invention further provides a method for isolating a population of stem cell derived motor neurons and a population of cells comprising the differentiated neural cells. Additionally, the present invention is directed to a method of enhancing the survival of the differentiated neural cells in long term cell cultures. Finally, the present invention provides compositions containing MNTF or its peptide analogs for therapeutic use in conjunction with stem cells.