How Amyloid Disrupts Synaptic Plasticity in Alzheimer ' s Disease

The research community continues to make progress, slow but steady, in understanding the low-level biochemistry of neurodegenerative conditions. It is a very complex area of study. You might compare the research here, focused on amyloid, with results noted yesterday, focused on α-synuclein. The aging of the brain is accompanied by the aggregation of a number of altered proteins, producing solid deposits and a halo of surrounding changes in cell biochemistry that damage or kill brain cells. Beyond that summary, each is very different in mechanisms and outcome. Regardless, the end result is cognitive decline, a disruption of function in the brain. Control of protein aggregation is a major focus of the research community, but achieving any meaningful progress towards that goal has proven to been far more challenging than was hoped when these projects began in earnest. The accumulation of amyloid peptides in the form of plaques in the brain is one of the primary indicators of Alzheimer's disease. While the harmful effects of amyloid peptide aggregates are well established, the mechanism through which they act on brain cells remains ill-defined. Researchers knew, for instance, that amyloid peptides disrupt synapses - the area of contact and chemical communication between neurons - but did not understand how they did so. Now, new findings have revealed the molecular mechanism that links amyloid aggregates and deficient synaptic function observed in animal models of Alzhei...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs