- The exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is unknown, but amyloid plaques in the brain are widely thought to initiate the pathological cascade that leads to many of the symptoms.
- Recently, research has questioned this ‘amyloid hypothesis’, suggesting that the plaques may be a result, rather than a cause of AD.
- A new study now suggests that amyloid may have another role — causing two proteins to pair, stimulating the accumulation of tau proteins.
- When tau proteins accumulate, they damage brain cells and impair a person’s ability to think and remember.
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AD is a neurodegenerative disorder, which causes a range of symptoms, including:
- memory loss
- cognitive deficits
- coordination and balance problems
- personality or behavior changes.
Over time, symptoms worsen. Although treatments may alleviate the symptoms, the condition is incurable.
As yet, the exact cause of AD has not been identified, although two proteins —
Now, new research from Columbia University has found that amyloid causes two proteins to pair up, triggering rapid accumulation of tau proteins. The researchers suggest that preventing this pairing may be a good target for therapy.
The research is published in Science Advances.
“This study uses novel genetic technology to investigate how changes in gene expression happen in Alzheimer’s disease in response to the accumulation of amyloid beta, a hallmark biomarker in the disease. The researchers found a specific combination of gene expression factors that responds to…
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