An article was published in the New York Times on February 1, 2012 revealing a scientific breakthrough regarding the spread of Alzheimer's Disease in the human brain. Alzheimer's researchers knew that tau-filled cells first appeared on the brains of Alzheimer's patients specifically in the area of the brain where memories are made and stored. They then slowly move into areas of the brain that are responsible for remembering and reasoning. The researchers were never able, however, to pinpoint the exact cause of this spread. They felt that the disease could have been transmitted from neuron to neuron, or there might have been certain areas of the brain that were more resilient that other areas, and could have been able to resist the disease longer.
Studies were recently conducted at Columbia and Harvard University using genetically engineered mice. These mice were engineered to produce abnormal human tau proteins in their entorhinal cortex, which is the area of the brain where cells first die in Alzheimer's patients. Tau showed up and the cells started dying in the mices' entorhinal cortex. The dead cells were found to be filled with strands of tau. Cell death continued to spread through their brains over the next two years.
Since the other areas of their brains were not engineered to make human tau like their entorhinal cortex was, it is clear that the protein is transmitted from nerve cell to nerve cell.
This finding will help bring Alzheimer's disease to an abrupt halt early on, by preventing cell-to-cell transmission, possibly using an antibody that blocks tau. This is a huge lead in discovering the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
This disease runs in my family, it is great to hear that such great leaps in identification of the cause are being made.
ReplyDelete