hit counter

Syntaxin-6 Knockout Rescued Motor and Frailty Signs in Tauopathy Mice

MHD featured image for syntaxin-6 knockout and tauopathy motor rescue in mice.

A 2026 humanized P301S tauopathy mouse study found that syntaxin-6 knockout partly rescued early motor impairment from months 1 to 4, protected gait at 5.5 months, reduced frailty (p = 0.0052), and reduced superficial-cortex neurodegeneration at 3 months (p = 0.0055).1 The finding strengthens syntaxin-6 as a tauopathy modifier, but it is still mouse genetics, …

Read more

TMEM175 Proton Channel Finding Clarifies Parkinson’s Lysosome Risk

MHD featured image for TMEM175 proton conductance and Parkinson's disease lysosome risk.

A 2026 PNAS study found that TMEM175 behaves as a pH-sensitive lysosomal channel relevant to Parkinson’s risk biology.1 Acidifying the luminal side from pH 7.4 to 4.7 activated proton conductance, shifted reversal potential, and tied H57 to H+ and K+ flux. Research Highlights Acidification activated TMEM175: lowering luminal-side pH from 7.4 to 4.7 increased inward …

Read more

ALS CSF Proteomics Found 399 Candidate Proteins and a 5-Protein Panel

MHD featured image for ALS CSF proteomics and biomarker panels.

A 2026 cerebrospinal-fluid proteomics preprint involving 87 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, 89 healthy controls, and 61 neurological controls reported 399 ALS candidate proteins, complement markers that tracked disease stage, and a 5-protein panel that classified ALS vs. healthy controls with ROC AUC 0.95 after the best-known neurodegeneration markers were removed.1 Research Highlights CSF proteomics …

Read more

Leaded Gasoline and ALS: Australia’s MND Surge Tracks Lead

Photoreal illustration linking historical leaded-petrol exposure with motor neurone disease, with imagery of a vintage gas pump and motor neuron motifs.

A 2026 Australian ecological model found that 20-year-lagged cumulative population blood-lead burden was nonlinearly tied to motor neuron disease mortality (lead spline p = 0.00024), while national insecticide use did not independently explain the curve after adjustment (p = 0.39).1 That is a real lead signal, but it is still population-level evidence, not proof that …

Read more

Total-Body Tau PET Links Brain-Organ Coupling to Alzheimer’s Cognition

Photoreal illustration of brain with cardiac and respiratory rhythm overlays, conveying brain-body coupling and AD pathology.

A 2026 total-body tau-PET study of 28 people with Alzheimer’s disease and 23 biomarker-negative controls found stronger brain-organ network connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease than in biomarker-negative controls: 35 altered connections, including 21 brain-body edges, plus AD-only links between brain-organ coupling, cortical tau burden, MRI-derived glymphatic markers, and cognition.1 The result is best read as a …

Read more

Friedreich Ataxia MRI Study Finds 3 Progression Subtypes

Photoreal illustration of brain regions affected in Friedreich ataxia with overlay of MRI imaging modalities, conveying multi-pattern subtypes.

A 2026 longitudinal MRI preprint involving 54 people with Friedreich ataxia and 57 controls found 3 biologically interpretable progression subtypes: microstructure-dominant, macrostructure-dominant, and minimal/no progression.1 The clusters make biomarker heterogeneity visible at the research level, while the classifier remains too early to assign individual patients to treatment paths. Research Highlights 3 MRI progression subtypes emerged: …

Read more

Ubiquinol for Multiple System Atrophy: First Positive Repurposing Trial

Photoreal illustration of misfolded alpha-synuclein in glial cells with drug molecule motifs, representing repurposed-drug therapeutics in MSA.

Multiple system atrophy is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease with no proven disease-modifying therapy. A 2026 review by Jeong and colleagues tracks two decades of repurposed-drug trials, with one recent positive Phase 2 result.1 Research Highlights Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a fatal α-synuclein disorder distinct from Parkinson’s disease. It progresses faster than PD (median …

Read more