India Post News Service
CHICAGO: The Association of Scientists of Indian Origin in America (ASIOA), Neuroscience Division, recently organized a one-day national conference on the Expanding Frontiers of Neuroscience Research, in the Department of Psychiatry Conference Room of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
It was attended by six neuroscientists of Indian origin from different parts of USA, six from Chicago and a plenary speaker from India. Welcoming guests, Prof. Ghanshyam Pandey, President of ASIOA, Neuroscience Division, said that this type of conference facilitates and stimulates introduction and networking among Indian neuroscientists, besides contributing to the development of science and technology in India.
Yet another objective, he mentioned, was to address the neurobiological aspects of many of the neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders facing the country. The first speaker, Dr Bellur Prabhakar, Head of the Department of Microbiology- UIC, talked about the role of a new gene, known as IG20, in neuronal cell survival and apoptosis, implicating it not only in cancer but in many other neurological disorders such as depression.
He reported that one neural specific isoforms of this gene has an anti apoptotic effect and this may be important in neuronal cell survival. The next speaker, Dr Durisala Desaiah, a scientist from the Eli Lilly company, talked about the therapeutic mechanism of the action of many of the antidepressant drugs developed by this company and its advantages over the standard antidepressant drugs and their use and efficacy in pain disorders.
Dr Yogesh Dwivedi, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry- UIC, dwelt on the role of a growth factor, known as brain-derived neutrophic factor, in suicidal behavior. This neurotrophic factor is involved not only in synaptic modeling during growth but also in the cell survival of brain neurons.
He said that this neurotrophic factor, which is found to be decreased in the brain of the suicide victims, is involved in the action of psychoactive drugs and maybe a target for developing more appropriate anti-suicidal and antidepressant drugs. Prof Ghanshyam Pandey of UIC touched upon the role of different phosphorylating enzymes in suicide and mood disorders.
He particularly talked about a key component of cellular signaling process, known as protein kinase C, which was found to be decreased in the postmortem brain of adolescent suicide victims and also in the platelets of adolescent and adult bipolar patients.
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