The Rhyothemis princeps Brain Externalization Project

Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide found in brown seaweed that varies in molecular weight and composition. Wakame ( Undaria pinnatifida ) is a brown seaweed commonly consumed in Japan and is a main ingredient in miso soup and is also served as a salad.  Recently it as been reported that fucoidan can inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-00192-8 Of course it remains to be demonstrated in humans, but it's a start.  ~ Wakame fucoidan could be useful for Covid-19 since it inhibits thrombosis without increasing bleeding time: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22084059/ The  Min et al. (2011) study also found in comparison to wakame fucoidan, fucoidan from bladder wrack inhibited thrombus formation, but bleeding time was prolonged (but not as much as for heparin).  An important caveat when considering the therapeutic potential of seaweed/fucoidan is that there are differences in biological activities in fucoidans from different species as we

MCC950, an NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor, was shown to reverse symptoms in two Parkinson's disease mouse models and was reported to have no toxicity issues. The only reason given in the following article for not pursuing clinical trials is that it is off-patent: https://www.genengnews.com/news/parkinsons-disease-drug-that-cools-brains-on-fire-could-enter-human-trials-in-2020/   Given its mechanism of action it could be broadly effective against neurodegenerative diseases and even spinal cord injury ( https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2020.00037/full ).   Infections due to immunosuppression may be a problem, but there are reasons to think that MCC950 would be safer than immunosuppressive agents currently used to treat inflammatory conditions:   "Thus, specific targeting of NLRP3 will not result in the complete blockade of IL-1β during infection and antimicrobial responses may remain intact. MCC950 may therefore have less immunosuppressive effects when compa

  Genetic Mutations in Parkinson's Disease | 2019 Udall Center Research Symposium, presented by Dr Valina Dawson Some very nice slides. 18:18 - 3:00 - 3:26   19:25 It is disappointing to see therapies targeting NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition are not more advanced, considering the success of MCC950 in mouse models and how broadly effective it could be for neurodegenerative diseases as well as spinal cord injury . Index   3:00 autosomal recessive PD (ARPD) genes & their functions   3:26 interaction of ARPD genes - 'linked in circuits' - leading to inactivation of Parkin & activation of PARP1 resulting in death of neurons   4:56 autosomal dominant - point mutations in alpha synuclein which facilitate its misfolding; a- syn can be duplicated or triplicated     6:00 VPS 35 - vacuolar sorting protein     6:54 LRRK2 - sporadic PD - spontaneous mutations occur at high frequency - 1-7% of PD patients of European origin and 20-40% of PD in Ashkenazi Jews and North A