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International scientific collaboration between IMBB-FORTH Researchers and Scientists at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the University of Oslo, in Norway uncovers the novel role of the DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.
The findings of the study, published today in the premier international scientific journal Cell Reports, reveal a novel molecular mechanism underlying the detrimental effects of BER imbalance in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. IMBB-FORTH Researchers Dr. Konstantinos Palikaras (now Assistant Professor at the Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and Dr. Nektarios Tavernarakis (Professor at the Medical School, University of Crete, and Chairman of the Board at FORTH), in collaboration with the team of Prof. Hilde Nilsen (University of Oslo and Akershus University Hospital, Lørenskog, Norway), among others, demonstrated that age-dependent imbalance in BER affects the survival of dopaminergic neurons and could serve as a potent modulator of Parkinson’s diseasepathophysiology.
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The incorporation of centimetre-size monolayer graphene in polymer nanolaminates, paving the way for the development of effective electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields, has been published in Nature Communications.
Since its isolation in 2004 by Geim and Novoselov from the University of Manchester (Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010), graphene has been termed as a ‘wonder material’ due to its exceptional properties that have already been exploited in many applications and products. However, the use of graphene in a form of tiny flakes in polymer composites limits the full exploitation of the excellent properties of graphene, thus requiring high filler loadings for achieving satisfactory electrical and mechanical properties.
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