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You can find the full text article at the following location: http://www.sciencemag.org/science/scripts/display/full/274/5293/1729.html But this service will be limited after January 6th. Micce Granstrom At 20.03 1996-12-16 -0500, you wrote: >>From Canadian Press as published in last week's Hamilton (Ontario, >Canada) Spectator > >Degenerative Disease Breakthrough Made by Kingston (Ontario, Canada) >Scientists > >A breakthrough made by two Queen's University medical researchers may >help scientists conquer degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and >Multiple Sclerosis. > >Clinical neurologist Dr. Rick Riopelle and biochemist Greg Ross have been >able to demonstrate in a laboratory how drugs can stop neuro-degenerative >disorders, such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and ALS >(Lou Gehrig's Disease). > >The researchers, working at the Apps Medical Research Centre in Kingston >General Hospital, have discovered the conditions that block a >self-destructive process in cells. > >Results of the two-year study were published Friday in Science magazine. > >"We're very excited," said Mr. Ross. "It really gives us a whole new >view of approaches we may take to developing drugs that could be useful >in treating these disorders." > >The breakthrough has personal meaning for Mr. Ross. His 70-year-old >grandmother died from the neuro-degenerative disorder Amyotrophic Lateral >Sclerosis. > >"It's a devastating disorder," he said. > >The researchers examined two protein molecules, one a receptor and the >other a signal for cells to destroy themselves. They were able to >develop a drug that blocked the receptor so that the self-destruct >message didn't get through. > >The process is necessary, said Mr. Ross, so that cells in the brain can >be eliminated when they make wrong connections. > >"Cells have to have the ability to kill themselves," said Mr.. Ross, "and >during development in people under the age of two years old, the >ability...is an absolute requirement. > >"But the problem is that the cell may inappropriately use these same >mechanisms in the mature nervous system, where you don't want these cells >to die." > >Mr. Ross said the discovery won't produce immediate results for sufferers >because the drug researchers used can't be used for treatment because >it's dissolved by the body too quickly. > >But the discovery will be key in determining the kind of drug that could >stop such degenerative diseases, Mr. Ross said. > >That could take more than a decade, he added. > >============================================================================ >Barbara Patterson [log in to unmask] >HSC 2J22 905-525-9140, ext. 22403 > School of Nursing >============================================================================ >