Amyloid plaques in Alz-
heimer’s brain tissue
This may be a blockbuster finding:
“Prion protein, notorious for causing the brain-wasting mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases, may also be a coconspirator in Alzheimer’s disease, a new study in mice suggests.
In mad cow and Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseases, misshapen prion proteins do the damage. But the new paper, appearing February 26 in Nature, offers evidence that the harmless version of the prion protein assists the amyloid-beta protein responsible for brain cell death in Alzheimer’s disease.”
The prion protein — a role for which in the brain has been a headscratcher for neuroscientists — acts as the middleman in amyloid-beta binding to the cell membrane. This may hint at a new therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer’s prevention.
‘Get rid of the prion protein middleman, or its ability to bind A-beta oligomers, and get rid of the disease. “In many ways it may be better than addressing A-beta levels,” which are difficult to reduce completely, [one of the investigators] says.’ via Science News.
Related:
- Prions in Milk (microbiologybytes.wordpress.com)
- First case of haemophiliac vCJD (news.bbc.co.uk)
- D. Carleton Gajdusek, Who Won Nobel for Work on Brain Disease, Is Dead at 85 (nytimes.com)
- Scientists sniff out prion secret (news.bbc.co.uk)
- Diverse Symptoms Of Prion Disease In Humans Replicated In Mouse Model (medicalnewstoday.com)
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