Washington, Mar 12: A well-known enzyme linked with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke has now been found to help create and maintain the brain, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
After selectively disabling the enzyme AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in mouse embryos, it was found that the overall brain size was reduced by 50 percent, the cerebrum and cerebellum were shrunken, and the mice died within three weeks of birth.