Hibapress
A team of researchers from KU Leuven University and the Flemish Institute of Biotechnology (VIB) in Belgium has identified specific inhibitors that could prevent nerve cell loss in mice with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published Thursday.
These discoveries open up new perspectives in the search for therapies that could stop or prevent the accumulation of brain damage caused by Alzheimer’s disease, says this study published in the scientific journal Science Translational Medicine.
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques and the clumping of “tau proteins” in the brain. This accumulation disrupts cellular communication and leads to nerve cell death, resulting in the degradation of cognitive abilities and memory loss for which the disease is known.
The new study led, among others, by Professor Bart De Strooper, from the VUB-KU Leuven Center for Brain Research, examined how nerve cell loss could be prevented using specific inhibitors.
The researchers looked at several kinds of mice, building on research they carried out last year, when they mapped certain triggers that cause cells to undergo the famous necroptosis, the process of successive biochemical reactions. which lead to the death of nerve cells.
To understand this process and how to stop it, the research team studied the role of necroptosis in several types of mice suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers then found that necroptosis was activated in mice presenting agglutinations of “tau proteins”, but not in mice presenting only amyloid plaques.
These results suggest that there is a delayed form of necroptosis linked to the disease and activated by a specific form of “tau”.
Alzheimer’s disease causes 60 to 70% of cases of dementia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, including around 220,000 in Belgium.
