Sentences with phrase «protein tangles»

Scientist home in on protein tangles behind amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases

The researchers were looking for two specific types of protein: deposits of beta - amyloid plaque and knotted threads of tau protein tangles.

Another study suggests that curcumin may help prevent a buildup of protein tangles called Amyloid plaques, which may contribute to age - related brain diseases.

Alzheimer's disease is pathologically characterized as a reduction in brain volume, commonly referred to as shrinkage, as well as amyloid protein tangles that prevent efficient communication between neurons by altering chemical and electrical signaling.

In theory, these neurons should contain much higher levels of abnormal prion protein tangles than does CSF because they are directly connected to the brain, Caughey notes.

Except for the fact that they can both change shape and form large protein tangles, scientists hadn't detected any significant similarities between them.

Also, he says that if the treatment doesn't block the tau protein tangles that accumulate in neurons of Alzheimer's patients, the disease might advance even if cells survive and form connections to others.

Low doses of nicotine reduce the number of plaques in rats, yet little was known about the effect on the protein tangles.

The patient - derived cells also possessed the second hallmark of Alzheimer's: high amounts of the tau protein, or more accurately tau that has been distorted so that the proteins tangle together.

What's more, recent experiments in mice have indicated that protein tangles and amyloid deposits can slowly spread from neuron to neuron.

As luck would have it, cells in the brain called microglia act as the brain's street sweeper, zapping infectious agents, damaged cells, and, importantly, protein tangles and plaques that are thought to cause dementia.