The imaging method tracks molecules active in several neurological diseases.
When it comes to neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia, along with addiction and depression, a certain enzyme has gotten a lot of attention as a major actor in each: histone deacetylases (HDACs). Scientists recently developed a new imaging technique to see them in action, witnessing changes in gene activity in the brain for the first time.
Dysfunction in epigenetics, or alterations in gene expression that affect organism function, is responsible for many neurological disorders, including those above.
Scientists know HDACs are involved in changing those expressions, but lack specific information.. To study the difference in the molecules’ activity in healthy brains versus the afflicted, researchers spent seven years creating a compound, [11C]Martinostat, that would help examine them at work in the brain.
Cont’d reading Engadget