Understanding and treating Alzheimer's disease

(what is going wrong inside a cell)

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Scientists outline new methods for better understanding links between specific proteins and the risks associated with Alzheimer's disease in an article co-authored by University of Alabama researchers and published in Science Express. 

In experiments using a series of model organisms, including yeast, microscopic roundworms and rats, the researchers show how basic mechanisms inside cells are disrupted when a specific human protein, known as the amyloid beta peptide, fails to properly fold. This study also shows the role a second protein, referred to by the scientists as PICALM, can play in modifying the problem. 

"By using these yeast models, in combination with worms, we really are hopeful of finding a way by which we can understand and maybe combat Alzheimer's disease more rapidly," said Dr. Guy Caldwell, professor of biological sciences at The University of Alabama and one of three University of Alabama-authors on the Science article. 

The research involved scientists from several universities and research institutes, including the Whitehead Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the lead author, Dr. Sebastian Treusch, is affiliated. Treusch works in the lab of Dr. Susan Lindquist, a renowned expert in cell biology and collaborator with Caldwell on a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that funded part of this research. 

While the repeated misfoldings of amyloid beta peptides within the human brain were previously known to trigger the death of neurons, resulting in Alzheimer's, Caldwell says the underlying mechanisms of toxicity weren't as well understood. 

Properly functioning cells must efficiently deliver proteins and chemicals to other parts of the cell, Caldwell said. This research shows how the amyloid beta peptide interrupts a specific cellular pathway called endocytosis, preventing the delivery of other needed proteins to other parts of the cell. Continue to read: medilexicon.com

TODAY'S PHOTO

Mass-spectrometry will cover ineffective allergen testing

The first commercially available mass spectrometry (MS) multi-allergen screening system will cover the “inefficiencies” of current methods, according to a food safety expert. Read more: foodqualitynews.com

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