UCLA researchers discover genes tied to dementia in key early step toward new therapies

A UCLA-led research team has identified genetic processes involved in the neurodegeneration that occurs in dementia — an important step on the path toward developing therapies that could slow or halt the course of the disease.The findings appear today in the journal Nature Medicine.The researchers discovered two major groups of genes involved in mutations that result in an overproduction of a protein called tau, a hallmark of the progressive loss of neurons seen in major forms of dementia. The study was largely done in mouse models of dementia, although the researchers performed additional experiments that indicated the same genetic process occurs in human brains.Armed with that knowledge, the team searched a large database of the genetic effects of experimental drugs to identify those that might alter this loss of neurons, or neurodegeneration. In human cell cultures, the researchers showed that the use of these molecules interfered with neurodegeneration.“Our study is the most comprehensive published effort to date to identify the source of neurodegeneration across species and provides an important roadmap for the development of potentially effective new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia,” said Dr. Daniel Geschwind, the study ’s senior author and a UCLA professor ofneurology andpsychiatry and biobehavioral sciences who holds the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald Distinguished Chair inHuman Genetics at theDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.More th...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news