Alzheimer’s disease tagged posts

A human donor Alzheimer’s disease brain tissue stained with an agent called ‘congo-red’, which allows for the visualization of amyloid-beta plaques (red) in the brain and surrounding blood vessels. Blue stains show the nuclei of the cells in the brain. Credit: Dr Matthew Campbell, 2015

Researchers believe that periodic clearance of a specific protein across the blood brain barrier could hold tremendous potential for new therapies. Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have shed light on a fundamental mechanism underlying the development of Alzheimer’s disease, which could lead to new forms of therapy for those living with the condition.

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized, in part, by the build-up of a small protein (‘amyloid-beta’) in the brains of patients...

In recent years, generating see-through tissue – a process called optical clearing -has become a goal for many researchers in life sciences because of its potential to reveal complex structural details of our bodies, organs, and cells – both healthy and diseased -when combined with advanced microscopy imaging techniques.

“The usefulness of optical clearing techniques can be measured by their ability to gather accurate 3D structural information that cannot be readily achieved through traditional 2D methods,” explains Atsushi Miyawaki. “Here, we achieved this goal using a new procedure, and collected data that may resolve several current issues regarding the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease...

Alzheimer Disease Pathology and Site of Gene Delivery in a Patient 7 Years After Gene Transfer Credit: http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2427383

The affected neurons displayed heightened growth, axonal sprouting and activation of functional markers after nerve growth factor (NGF) was injected into their brains.The findings are derived from postmortem analyses of 10 patients who participated in phase I clinical trials launched in 2001 to assess whether injected NGF – a protein essential to cellular growth, maintenance and survival – might safely slow or prevent neuronal degeneration in patients with AD.

Cholinergic Neuronal Hypertrophy and Sprouting Credit: http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2427383

Administering NGF directly into the brain – a fir...