More recently, as scientists realized that IDE was also involved in clearance of amyloid - beta, they have begun searching for ways to supercharge the enzyme to see if it could prevent the build -
up of the amyloid plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.
«Using nanoliposomes offers an alternative way to inhibit the toxic build -
up of amyloid plaques without activating an immune response in the brain.
Not exact matches
For example, Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) has a phase 3 study
of solanezumab under way in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease patients that may slow disease progression by breaking
up amyloid plaque buildups thought to be a major cause
of the disease.
«
Amyloid is one
of many substances that builds
up in
plaques as a result
of dying cells and atrophy in the brain,» he says.
Up to now researchers thought that the astrocytes migrated towards the
amyloid plaques and devoured them, so that reinforcing their activity could be a good remedy against development
of the disease.
But Holtzman and other researchers previously demonstrated that
plaques of amyloid - beta protein build
up faster in the brains
of APOE4 carriers (SN: 7/30/11, p. 9).
These
plaques, which are believed to cause the dementia associated with the disease, are made
up of tangles
of amyloid beta (Aβ), a protein that is found in soluble form in healthy individuals.
Brains
of patients with Alzheimer's disease clog
up too, but with
plaques made from a different protein called
amyloid beta peptide.
One look at an image
of an Alzheimer's afflicted brain is unflinching testimony to the disease's cruelty: It destroys
of up to 30 percent
of a brain's mass, carving out ravines and depositing piles
of molecular junk, most visibly
amyloid plaque.
b - secretase acts like a pair
of molecular scissors, snipping a piece off a large protein to produce b -
amyloid, a smaller protein that builds
up in
plaques in the brains
of Alzheimer's patients and is thought to kill neurons.
They also showed in mice studies and in the laboratory that NCAM2 was broken down by another protein called beta -
amyloid, which is the main component
of the
plaques that build
up in the brains
of people with the disease.
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.
The nerve cell death in Alzheimer s patients is linked to the build -
up of plaques in their brains, which consist mostly
of an insoluble protein called β -
amyloid.
Plaques are the build
up of sticky proteins called beta
amyloid, and tangles are twisted strands
of a protein called tau.
Insulin plays many roles in the brain — it is involved in memory formation, and it helps to keep synapses free
of protein debris, including the tau tangles and
amyloid plaques that build
up in Alzheimer's, Craft says.
A
plaque is an accumulation
of proteins that are primarily made
up of Amyloid beta (A-beta), a small structure that splits off from the
Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP).
Just a few years ago, William Klunk and his colleagues at the University
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced that they had come
up with a compound that binds selectively to
amyloid, the protein from which
up the characteristic Alzheimer's
plaques are formed.
The amount
of beta -
amyloid proteins, which make
up the characteristic Alzheimer's
plaques, was also much lower in the brains
of the mice on the low - calorie diet.
One
of the main ingredients in these
plaques, a peptide called beta
amyloid, is created when enzymes cut
up a protein called APP.
The new protein helps prepare one
of the raw materials that builds
up in
amyloid plaques.
But if additional studies confirm
amyloid - beta's antimicrobial function — and the role
of infections in causing
amyloid - beta
plaques to form — this model might open
up new ways
of thinking about Alzheimer's therapies.
Amyloid fibers are best known as the
plaque that gunks
up neurons in people with neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt - Jacob disease — the human analog
of mad cow disease.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (June 8, 2005)--
Amyloid fibers are best known as the
plaque that gunks
up neurons in people with neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's and Creutzfeldt - Jacob disease — the human analog
of mad cow disease.
Using blood collected from elderly persons aged
up to one hundred and demonstrating no cognitive impairment, the researchers isolated precisely those immune cells whose antibodies are able to identify toxic beta -
amyloid plaques but not the
amyloid precursor protein that is present throughout the human body and that presumably plays an important role in the growth
of nerve cells.
Stimulating neurons in the brains with electrodes can keep them active enough to slow down the build -
up of toxic neurons like
amyloid plaques.
Amyloid fibers, those clumps
of plaque - like proteins that clog
up the brains
of Alzheimer's patients, have perplexed scientists with their robust structures.
Lilly scientists had hoped that their agent, an
amyloid antibody, would soak
up enough
of the circulating
amyloid so that there weren't enough fragments around to aggregate into the toxic
plaques.
The brains
of individuals having Alzheimer's have clumps
of amyloid plaques which are made
up of aggregates
of misfolded proteins.
The compound sticks to the free - floating forms
of the protein
amyloid, which build
up into damaging
plaques in the brain.
Alzheimer's disease, which is characterized by a loss in motor, psychological, and cognitive function, is attributed to the build
up of beta -
amyloid plaque surrounding neurons.
In a study
of older adults published in Annals
of Neurology, blueberries enhanced the removal
of amyloid beta
plaques in the brain, delaying cognitive aging by
up to two and a half years.
A
plaque that builds
up in the brain
of Alzheimer's patients called beta -
amyloid plaques is believed to be one
of the primary causes
of Alzheimer's disease.
Studies have indicated that lithium may inhibit the build
up of beta -
amyloid and tau proteins, the main components
of the
plaques and tangles that form in the brain with Alzheimer's disease.