- The accumulation of deposits of the beta-amyloid and tau proteins in the brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and is associated with disruption of communication between neurons and cognitive decline.
- However, some individuals showing an aggregation of these Alzheimer’s-associated pathological proteins are resilient to deficits in cognitive function and are referred to as having asymptomatic Alzheimer’s.
- A recent study has identified a protein called neuritin in the brains of individuals with asymptomatic Alzheimer’s that may help preserve the structure of synapses—the connections between neurons in the brain—and, subsequently, confer resilience to cognitive decline.
- The study’s results suggest that this protein could serve as a therapeutic target to prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s in vulnerable individuals.
A commonly used approach for identifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease involves the use of cell culture and animal models in the initial stages to identify therapeutic targets, followed by clinical trials to examine whether these findings can be reproduced in humans. However, this approach has often resulted in failure of treatments in clinical trials.
Another approach involves conducting an observational study to identify a potential therapeutic target in humans. This is followed by conducting experiments using cell culture or animal models to validate the molecule’s therapeutic effects and examine the mechanisms underlying these therapeutic effects. The molecule can then be tested in clinical trials, and such an approach is considered to be more successful.
A recent study published inMolecular & Cellular Proteomics used this novel approach to identify a protein—called neuritin—that could preserve cognitive function in individuals showing pathological changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s.
The study’s co-author Dr. Nicolas Seyfried, a professor at Emory University, told Medical News Today that one of the…
Read the full article here