#beta-amyloid

Age is the largest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (ALD), but the age-related mechanisms that increase risk for ALD are unclear. Although a proposed lifelong buildup of extracellular amyloid or ROS damage could eventually reach a clinical threshold for dementia, neither mouse models nor human anti-amyloid or antioxidant therapies have validated this proposition. Aging and age-related disease…

Cholesterol in brain health and disease Cholesterol is found in the cell membranes of all human cells. It plays an integral role in neuronal signaling and synaptic connections, especially in the brain. Notably, the brain contains between 20-25% of all the body’s cholesterol reserves, making it the organ with the highest cholesterol concentration in the human body. Interestingly, peripheral…

In studies with genetically engineered mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified a potentially new biological target involving APLP1, a cell surface protein that drives the spread of Parkinson’s disease-causing alpha-synuclein. The findings reveal how APLP1 connects with Lag3, another cell surface receptor, in a key part of a process that helps spread harmful…

The human brain is an organ that takes nearly from 20 to 25% of the energy the body needs. This high energy demand for neuronal functions depends on the transport and precise distribution of mitochondria — the energy-generating cell organelles — in each neuron. In neurons, the transport process of mitochondria is determining, since these organelles must be present along all axons and dendrites to…

Vitamin D: is it working in brain aging as possible staving-off factor for senile dementia?

An estimated 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, a number that’s expected to rise as the global population ages. To find treatments that can slow or stop the disease, scientists need to better understand the factors that can cause dementia. Researchers at Tufts University have completed the first study examining levels of vitamin D in brain tissue, specifically in adults who suffered…

Too much abnormal protein makes the neurons Syk: once in a while a kinase turns from perpetrator into a patron

Unfortunately, medicine currently lacks effective treatments to target the root causes of most neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or ALS. UVA Health researchers have discovered a cellular protein in the brain orchestrates the immune system’s responses to Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis (MS), potentially enabling doctors to enhance the body’s ability to fight those and…

Vitamins in biomedicine: Parkinson and Alzheimer reap the benefits for nicotinamide supplementation

It is estimated that in 2020 nearly six million people were living with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States alone; and this number is expected to increase in the coming decades. Attempts to develop drugs to treat the neurodegenerative condition have had limited success and only five drugs are currently approved. The researchers also explored the potential of existing drugs to improve the…