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October 31, 2003
MDA RESEARCHER RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD
MDA research grantee Michael D. Ehlers has received the prestigious
Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology, which recognizes the
best of the world’s neurobiological research by young scientists.
Ehlers, a neuroscientist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham,
N.C., will receive a $25,000 award and have his winning essay describing
his research published in today’s issue of Science.
Ehlers’ current MDA-funded research attempts to determine why
motor neurons (the nerve cells that determine muscle movement) are hypersensitive
to the natural brain chemical glutamate and thus selectively degenerate
in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The award, given by the journal Science and the biotechnology company
Eppendorf, will be presented at the annual Society for Neuroscience
meeting in New Orleans Nov. 8-12. The honor is meant to encourage the
work of promising young neurobiologists by providing support early in
their careers, and is awarded for research performed during the past
three years.
By examining how synapses (connections) in the brain are changed by
activity in the brain, Ehlers’ research has identified how a critical
protein complex, the postsynaptic density (PSD), is actively restructured.
The PSD is present at synapses throughout the brain and spinal cord,
and assists in the receiving and relaying of neurotransmitter signals.
“In essence, (the PSD) is a microscopic signal-processing machine,”
Ehlers said.
Ehlers said the most remarkable finding is that even though the PSD
is a dense, solid structure, the turnover of all of its proteins is
surprisingly fast — several hours. This means that information
stored in our brains — such as memories and learned motor skills
— is somehow maintained even though all parts of this crucial
signaling machine are replaced multiple times a day.
This new research has raised very interesting questions concerning
aging, memory and neurodegenerative disorders, he said.
In neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, the motor neurons are singularly
susceptible to damage. Knowing how networks of proteins interact in
these diseases opens new territory, as proteins usually are examined
for their individual effects.
“These findings allow us to begin making testable predictions
about the functional networks of proteins in these synaptic complexes,”
Ehlers said.
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