That agent, aducanumab, is designed to bind preferentially to the early
clumps of amyloid as they form plaques, and therefore may be more useful in mild or moderate patients who are already showing signs of memory loss and other cognitive problems.
The brains of individuals having Alzheimer's have
clumps of amyloid plaques which are made up of aggregates of misfolded proteins.
«Though several studies have suggested that amyloid beta builds up when we lack sleep, and previous evidence has shown sleep may give the brain a chance to clear out
clumps of amyloid beta, unfortunately none have been able to confirm that sleep deprivation can cause dementia.
«The small
clumps of amyloid may be a key reason.
Scientists have long considered
clumps of amyloid plaques — sticky, barnacle - like protein bundles — to be the first sign of Alzheimer's.
The brains of mice engineered to develop Alzheimer's disease were riddled with these plaques,
clumps of amyloid - beta protein fragments, by the time the animals were 10 months old.
Not exact matches
After the night with disrupted sleep, the researchers found people had higher levels
of beta -
amyloid proteins, the proteins that
clump together and form the plaque found in Alzheimer's - afflicted brains, in the volunteers» spinal fluid.
«The disability level aligned with the quantity
of amyloid (protein
clumps) present makes intuitive sense, but we were really amazed that the information from a small skin biopsy would correlate so well with disease severity,» says Polydefkis.
The idea for Smith's study was inspired by the work
of co-author Alena Savonenko, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor
of pathology, and her colleagues who showed that loss
of serotonin neurons was associated with more protein
clumps, or
amyloid, in mouse brain.
Smith says her group is investigating whether PET imaging
of serotonin could be a marker to detect progression
of disease, whether alone or in conjunction with scans that detect the
clumping protein known as
amyloid that accumulates in the brains
of those with Alzheimer's disease.
This was the first time this technology has been used on
amyloid fibrils
of the infectious prion, which are a special form
of clumped - together proteins that form fibrils.
About 20 proteins share the ability to
clump together to form distinctive «
amyloid fibrils» that contribute to Alzheimer's, Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease, and a variety
of lesser - known disorders.
Amyloid plaques are the toxic
clumps of protein that cause damage to cells in the brains
of people with Alzheimer's disease.
They then made
amyloids by allowing copies
of each peptide to
clump together, adding zinc ions to help the process along.
Specifically, the release
of a stress - coping hormone called corticotropin - releasing factor (CRF), which is widely found in the brain and acts as a neurotransmitter / neuromodulator, is dysregulated in AD and is associated with impaired cognition and with detrimental changes in tau protein and increased production
of amyloid - beta — protein fragments that
clump together and trigger the neurodegeneration characteristic
of AD.
Aducanumab, an antibody made by the pharmaceutical company Biogen, binds to and clears
clumps of β
amyloid from the brain like many other antibodies that have been tested.
A definitive diagnosis
of Alzheimer's includes dementia and two distortions in the brain:
amyloid plaques, sticky accumulations
of misfolded pieces
of protein known as
amyloid beta peptides; and neurofibrillary tangles, formed when proteins called tau
clump into long filaments that twist around each other like ribbons.
Given these insights,
amyloids» role in Alzheimer's may be much more complex than researchers thought years ago, when they first discovered the
clumps, or plaque, in the brains
of Alzheimer's patients during autopsy.
That variety cropped up in a different part
of the brain than the other strains, and it also produced
clumps of proteins akin to the
amyloid plaques found in sporadic Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease, a fatal brain disease
of unknown origin that usually affects those over age 55.
That vaccine, which included bits
of beta -
amyloid to arouse immune - system T cells, cleared the
clumps, but it also provoked dangerous brain inflammation in several patients.
Researchers believe the disease progresses because
of sticky
clumps of beta -
amyloid proteins that form and build up between neurons, eventually killing them.
For example,
clumps of proteins called
amyloid fibrils are thought to be the cause
of Alzheimer's disease as well as several other devastating illnesses.
«It is the best source
of fresh human brain tissue available at the moment,» says Jucker, who plans to scrutinize it carefully under the microscope for anything that might resemble tiny
clumps or seeds
of amyloid - β.
US researchers have discovered a link between sleep deprivation and a brain protein called beta -
amyloid — the protein that «
clumps» together in the brains
of Alzheimer's patients.
Previously, other researchers reported that ApoE4 seemed to reduce the clearance
of amyloid - β, the protein that
clumps together to form the hallmark plaques
of AD, from the brain in a mouse model.
Within two months, those derived from the Alzheimer's patients began secreting high levels
of amyloid protein, which
clumped together in the spaces between neurons, resembling the formation
of plaques in a fully formed brain.
In recent years, scientists made the surprising discovery that seminal fluid harbors fragments
of proteins that
clump together, forming structures called
amyloid fibrils.
Sup35 is a prion — a type
of protein that can form tangled
clumps known as
amyloids.
Amyloid fibers, those
clumps of plaque - like proteins that clog up the brains
of Alzheimer's patients, have perplexed scientists with their robust structures.
Beta
amyloid plaques can form when particular fragments
of the
amyloid precursor protein (APP), cleaved by the enzyme gamma secretase,
clump together.
Amyloid protein forms
clumps in the brains
of patients, creating sticky plaques that lead to brain cell death.
As beta
amyloid proteins intertwine, they form tangled
clumps that block the passage
of signals from cell to cell.
One study presented by Dr. Donald Weaver, from the Krembil Research Institute
of the University
of Toronto, found that an extract
of maple syrup may help prevent the misfolding and
clumping of two types
of proteins found in brain cells - beta
amyloid and tau peptide.