A protein that accumulates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease may help to cause mass death of neurons by triggering a destructive inflammatory response, a study to be published in number tomorrow Nature suggests. The discovery could finally explain how one of the characteristics of the disease - the deposition of what is known as the amyloid precursor protein - helps with the symptoms. It could also explain the success of anti-inflammatory drugs to delay the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease.
in the hope of learning what causes inflammation of the brain seen in Alzheimer's disease, Steven Barger, cellular neurobiologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, has decided to test whether a secreted form of the amyloid precursor protein known as sAPP, could trigger the reaction. Barger and his student Ashley Harman sAPP added to cultured neurons and microglia - cells that help serve as the immune system of the brain. The enlarged microglia and began pumping the toxins in the framework of the inflammatory response.
After one day, 63% of the neurons died, compared to only 7% of the neurons in control. The researchers also found another link in the human Alzheimer's disease: When the sAPP has been pre-treated with apolipoprotein E3, microglia are activated. But apolipoprotein E4 - a variant associated with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease -. Did not provide this protection
"The bottom line is quite clear," said Zaven Khachaturian, neurobiologist and director of the Alzheimer's Association Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Institute "sAPP plays an important role in sickness. "But questions remain strong, he said." at what stage in the disease process is it in the image and where it enters the cascade of events do? "
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