Researchers have traced the major cause of the death of brain cells due to artery blockage or bleeding in the brain. That the resulting oxygen loss, or ischemia, unleashes a cascade of the brain chemical glutamate that in turn triggers receptors on the surface of brain cells to snap open, allowing a lethal flood of calcium into the cells is known to them. It is on the neuronal surface, such receptors are pore-like proteins.
But, because they disrupt normal function of the channels in otherwise unaffected brain areas, clinical trials of drugs to keep these receptors closed to calcium have largely failed, in large part. But now, researchers have discovered the distinct molecular malfunction that renders some neurons particularly vulnerable to stroke damage.
Via: Science Daily