Study: Molecules That Speed Up Alzheimer's Progression Found

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found the molecules that speed up the debilitating consequences of Alzheimer's disease, according to their study reported in the April issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

The discovery of these molecules could lead to new therapies aimed at blocking their action and, thereby, slowing the progress of Alzheimer's disease, according to the researchers.

Gary Landreth, a professor of neurosciences, and his colleagues found that microglial cells in the brain are provoked just enough by amyloid plaques to secrete an inflammatory product that plays a significant role in killing neurons, which leads to a loss of memory and brain function.

The researchers theorized that blocking the interaction between microglial cells and beta amyloid plaques would prevent this inflammation from occurring. Alzheimer's sufferers, even when left with such plaque in their brains, would still have a slower progression of the disease, according to the researchers.

In determining how microglial cells detect the plaques, the researchers found that the microglial cells use a collection of at least four different receptor proteins to bind to the amyloid and to cause the inflammation that kills neurons in the brain.

"This fundamentally changes how people think about how the amyloid plaques provoke microglial activation," said Landreth. "If we block any one of these receptors, we would block the inflammatory response. This presents new targets for new therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease."

Other sources: Case Western Reserve University