12/15/2015

Alzheimer's:newlyidentifiedmolecularmechanismcouldleadtotreatmentMedicalNewsToday

Alzheimer's/Dementia

Neurology/Neuroscience

Seniors/Aging

Alzheimer's:newlyidentifiedmolecularmechanismcouldleadto
treatment
WrittenbyMarieEllis
Published:Fri27November2015at7amPST

uringtheearlystagesofAlzheimer'sdisease,whenindividualsappeartobefreeofsymptoms,toxicchangesare
neverthelesstakingplaceinthebrainincludingsynapseloss.Thoughscientistsdonotyetfullyknowwhat

causesthisformofdementia,researchershavefoundhowbraincellconnectionsaredestroyedinearlystagesofthe
disease.

The

ResearchersfoundthatsynapticlevelsofNCAM2inthebrainwerelowinindividualswithAlzheimer'sdisease.

researchers,ledbyscientistsattheUniversityofNewSouthWales(UNSW)inAustralia,saytheirfindings
couldleadtomoreresearchintopossibletreatments.
TheypublishtheirworkthejournalNatureCommunications.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/303280.php

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12/15/2015

Alzheimer's:newlyidentifiedmolecularmechanismcouldleadtotreatmentMedicalNewsToday

Alzheimer'sdiseasewasfirstdiscoveredbyDr.AloisAlzheimerin1906,afterheobservedchangesinthe
braintissueofawomanwhodiedofanoddmentalillness,symptomsofwhichincludedmemorylossand
unpredictablebehavior.
Uponexaminingherbrainafterdeath,Dr.Alzheimerfoundabnormalclumpsnowknownasamyloidplaques
andtangledfibersnowcalledtautangles.
Theleaderofthislateststudy,Dr.VladimirSytnyk,fromtheUNSWSchoolofBiotechnologyand
BiomolecularSciences,explainsthatlossofsynapseswhichconnectbrainneuronsisoneofthefirst
changesassociatedwithAlzheimer'sdisease.
"Synapsesarerequiredforallbrainfunctions,"hesays,"andparticularlyforlearningandformingmemories."
HeaddsthatsynapselossoccursveryearlyinAlzheimer'sdisease,longbeforethenervecellsdie,when
onlymildcognitiveimpairmentisnoticeable.

LowNCAM2levelsfoundinbrainsaffectedbyAlzheimer's
TofurtherinvestigatebrainchangesrelatedtoAlzheimer'sdisease,Dr.Sytnykandcolleagueslookedata
brainproteincalledneuralcelladhesionmolecule2(NCAM2),whichispartofafamilyofmoleculesthat
connectssynapsemembranes,helpingmaintainsynapticconnectionsbetweenneurons.
Bystudyingbraintissuefrompeoplewithandwithoutthe
conditionwhohaddied,theteamfoundthatsynapticlevels
ofNCAM2inthehippocampuswerelowintheindividuals
withthedisease.
InAlzheimer's,mostofthedamageappearstotakeplaceinthe
hippocampus,whichisthepartofthebrainthatisessentialin
formingmemories.
Additionally,throughmicestudies,theresearchersfoundthat
NCAM2wasbrokendownbybetaamyloidproteins,whichare
theabnormalclumpsthatbuildupinthebrainsofpeoplewith
Alzheimer's.

Fastfactsabout
Alzheimer'sdisease
In2013,5millionAmericanswere
livingwithAlzheimer's
Ageisthebestknownriskfactor
fortheconditionsymptoms
typicallyfirstappearafterage60
Theriskincreaseswithage

LearnmoreaboutAlzheimer's

"Wehaveidentifiedanewmolecularmechanism,whichdirectly
contributestothissynapseloss,"saysDr.Sytnyk,"adiscovery
wehopecouldeventuallyleadtoearlierdiagnosisofthediseaseandnewtreatments."
Headds:

"OurresearchshowsthelossofsynapsesislinkedtothelossofNCAM2asaresultofthetoxic
effectsofbetaamyloid.Itopensupanewavenueforresearchonpossibletreatmentsthatcan
preventthedestructionofNCAM2inthebrain."

GiventhatthenumberofpeoplewithAlzheimer'sdiseaseisprojectedtoincreasethreefoldby2050,bringing
thetotalto14millionAmericans,findingtreatmentsfortheconditionisimmenselyimportant.
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Alzheimer's:newlyidentifiedmolecularmechanismcouldleadtotreatmentMedicalNewsToday

MedicalNewsTodayrecentlyreportedthatchangesinhumorcouldheralddementia.
WrittenbyMarieEllis

References

AdependentreductionofNCAM2mediatedsynapticadhesioncontributestosynapselossinAlzheimersdisease,
VladimirSytnyketal.,NatureCommunications,doi:10.1038/ncomms9836,publishedonline27November2015.
UniversityofNewSouthWalesnewsrelease,accessed27November2015viaEurekAlert.
Additionalsource:CDC,Alzheimer'sdisease,accessed27November2015.
Additionalsource:NationalInstituteonAging,Alzheimer'sfactsheet,accessed27November2015.

Additionalinformation

VisitourAlzheimer's/Dementiacategorypageforthelatestnewsonthissubject,orsignuptoournewsletterto
receivethelatestupdatesonAlzheimer's/Dementia.

Citations

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APA
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