Researchers Discover How Alzheimer's Disease Kills Brain Cells

EMaxHealth

Submitted by Kathleen Blanchard RN
Posted under: Alzheimer's Disease
Until now, scientists have been uncertain exactly how Alzheimer’s disease kills brain cells, causing debate among researchers. The results of a new study show how amyloid plaques, found in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, cause brain cells to die.

Researchers from University of Michigan and the University of California, San Diego were able to observe spikes in electrical currents across artificial cell membranes and in the membranes of live human cancer cells in the presence of the amyloid-beta peptide. What that told the scientists is that amyloid peptides poke holes in the cell membranes, allowing influx of calcium. Prior to the current research, it was believed that amyloid peptides thinned the cell membranes, producing calcium ion fluctuations. When ions become imbalanced, cell death results.

The researchers say that controversy about how Alzheimer’s disease kills brain cells has been a hindrance to developing new drugs. Michael Mayer, an assistant professor in the U-M departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering says, “It is our hope that putting this disagreement to rest by showing that amyloid beta peptides do not thin membranes but instead form discrete pores in membrane can help the field move forward at a more rapid pace."

Mayer explains how his team was able to........read the whole article

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