A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research has finally answered a question scientists have been asking for years.
Scientists have discovered how brain cells die when people develop Alzheimer’s, a study published in Science reveals.
“This is a very important and exciting finding,” researcher Bart De Strooper, from the UK’s Dementia Research Institute, told the BBC.
He continued, “For the first time, we have a clue as to how and why neurons die in Alzheimer’s disease. There has been a lot of speculation for 30-40 years, but no one has been able to pinpoint the mechanism.”
Researchers from Belgium and the UK transplanted human brain cells into the brains of genetically modified mice, which had been programmed to produce abnormal amounts of amyloid.
Scientists have made a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research by finally learning how brain cells die when people develop the disease, a study published in Science reveals.Getty Images/iStockphoto
Research has found that the disease develops through necroptosis – a type of cellular suicide.
People with Alzheimer’s lose brain cells and experience the buildup of abnormal proteins called amyloid and tau, which lead to symptoms of the disease, including memory loss.
Amyloid is “a protein found in our brains and bodies, but in Alzheimer’s disease, amyloids stick together and form clumps of different sizes that later become plaques in the brain,” according to Alzheimers.org.
People with Alzheimer’s lose brain cells and develop abnormal protein formations, which lead to the symptoms of the disease. fizkes – stock.adobe.com
Tau is a protein that “forms insoluble filaments that accumulate as neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies,” explains the National Library of Medicine.
But it was only until recent discoveries that scientists understood why this formation occurred.
The research team responsible now believes that abnormal amyloid begins to accumulate in the spaces between neurons, causing brain inflammation that results in changes to internal chemistry.
The research found that the disease develops through necroptosis – a form of cellular suicide – caused by tau tangles. Evrymmnt – stock.adobe.com
When tau tangles accumulate, brain cells begin to produce the Maternal Expressed Gene 3 molecule, which triggers necroptosis.
Once researchers understand this development, they can help brain cells survive by blocking MEG3.
De Strooper stated that this discovery could lead to “a new line of drug development.”
Once researchers understand this development, they can help brain cells survive by blocking MEG3. De Visu – stock.adobe.com
Experts note that this discovery is a huge leap forward but will likely take years to implement in the medical field.
The president of the British Neuroscience Association, Tara Spiers-Jones of the University of Edinburgh, told the BBC that the research “addresses one of the fundamental gaps in Alzheimer’s research” and noted that “this is an exciting result and will be important for the field moving forward.”
But he explained that “many steps are needed” until this work can help patients diagnosed with progressive disease.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
