Researchers at Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry have made a milestone discovery in the quest to identify the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have now mapped, in detail, the pathway that forms abnormal proteins thought to be the root of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
While we know the signs and symptoms, as well as possible risk factors for the degenerative disease, before this discovery, physicians were limited to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, instead of targeting the underlying cause with medicine. Now, these Cambridge scientists believe they have uncovered the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s that drugs could possibly target.
More than a decade ago, Professor Christopher Dobson and others found that “toxic oligomers,” rather than plaque, were the likely culprits for the rise of Alzheimer’s disease. While plaque, or misfolded proteins, do play a role in the development of the disease, this new study found that parts of these misfolded protein deposits react and form new clusters that only contain a few protein molecules. These new clusters, or “toxic oligomers” float around the brain’s cells dangerously, killing neurons and resulting in memory loss and other dementia symptoms.
By “recreating the crime scene” of where the oligomers are created, as described by researcher and lead author of the study, Dr. Tuomas Knowles, additional research can be done to target the process, treat those with neurodegenerative conditions and prevent future diagnoses.
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