New Findings About Brain Proteins Suggest Possible Way To Fight Alzheimer's (part 1)

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ScienceDaily — The action of a small protein that is a major villain in Alzheimer's disease can be counterbalanced with another brain protein, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in an animal study.

The findings, available online in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest a promising new tactic against the devastating illness, the researchers said.

The harmful protein, called beta-amyloid, is found in the brain and, when functioning properly, suppresses nerve activity involved with memory and learning. Its normal function can be likened to a red traffic light, restraining nerve cells from getting overexcited when they receive stimulating signals from neighboring cells. People with Alzheimer's disease, however, accumulate too much beta-amyloid – the traffic light gets stuck on "red" and nerve cells become less responsive.

Another brain protein, called Reelin, acts as a "green light," stimulating nerve cells to respond more strongly to their neighbors' signals.

The new study shows that applying Reelin directly to brain slices from mice prevents excess beta-amyloid from completely silencing nerves.

"If we can identify a mechanism to keep the nerve cells functioning strongly, that might provide a way to fight Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Joachim Herz, professor of molecular genetics and neuroscience at UT Southwestern and the study's senior author.

In the study, the researchers recorded electrical currents in the mouse hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning and memory. From their experiments they determined that Reelin and beta-amyloid interact with the same protein complex, called an NMDA receptor, which plays an important role in coordinating chemical signals between adjacent nerve cells.

They found that Reelin activates and strengthens the response of the NMDA receptor. In the presence of too much beta-amyloid, the receptor migrates into the cell, reducing the cell's sensitivity to incoming signals. By contrast, in strong concentrations of Reelin, the receptor remains active and the cell has the green light to continue receiving normally.

Dr. Herz said the study is..........comeback tomorrow to read part 2 of.... New Findings About Brain Proteins Suggest Possible Way To Fight Alzheimer's