NEWSWEEK – Scientists have made a major breakthrough in our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, opening up new avenues toward future treatments.
Alzheimer’s disease affects roughly 5.8 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The progressive disease is the most common form of dementia and is associated with memory loss and cognitive decline in regions of the brain involved in thought, memory and language.
Today, there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s, although scientists believe that it is caused by the abnormal buildup of proteins in and around the brain cells.
Normally, our brain’s cellular cleanup crew clears away excess proteins and cellular debris. However, in Alzheimer’s patients, this cleanup activity becomes restricted. But what if there was a way to enhance our brain’s ability to clear these built-up proteins?
In a new study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have demonstrated that this enhanced cerebral scrubdown can be achieved by manipulating a specific protein complex called plexin-B1.
Plexin-B1 is involved in guiding brain cells to form networks during brain development and may also help mediate communication between cells in the brain.
It has also previously been implicated in the development of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but its exact role had previously been unexplored …
