While it had been known that an abundance of iron in brain cells somehow results in an abundance of
amyloid precursor protein, or APP, and its destructive peptide offspring, Rogers' team set out to open up new avenues for therapies by determining what goes on at the molecular level.
These plaques are predominantly composed of beta amyloid protein, which is derived from the proteolytic processing of
amyloid precursor protein.
Some researchers have suspected that Alzheimer's results from an inherited or acquired genetic garble that causes cells to produce defective
amyloid precursor protein.
This study is significant because it shows that DHA added to the diet altered the processing of the
amyloid precursor protein and the accumulation of its toxic amyloid protein metabolite that is widely believed to cause Alzheimer's.
Beta amyloid, he notes, is actually a snippet of protein cleaved from a much larger protein called
amyloid precursor protein (APP), which sticks out from cell membranes.
Preclinical studies have shown that it improves cognitive function, increases levels of acetylcholine (ACh), demonstrates synergy with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, and may increase the neuroprotectants soluble
amyloid precursor protein (sAPP) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in regions of the brain known to be important for memory.
Jongens associate professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, worked with the familial form of Alzheimer's disease (FAD), an aggressive form of the disease that is caused by mutations in one of the two copies of the presenilin (PS) or
amyloid precursor protein (APP) genes.
Prana Biotechnology Limited , today announced that the Journal of Biological Chemistry has published a new paper in its September 30 edition called "Clioquinol Mediates Copper Uptake and Counteracts Cu Efflux Activities of the
Amyloid Precursor Protein of Alzheimer's Disease.
However, other experiments indicate that normal brain enzymes could easily cut her fragment from the
amyloid precursor protein.
Spanish researchers coordinated by Doctors Maria Angeles Mena and Justo Garcia de Yebenes, from CIBERNED (Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas), found that anaesthesia is safe for normal mice but potentially harmful for mice with mutations of the
amyloid precursor protein (APP).
Scientists at the Fisher Center and other research institutes had previously shown that beta-amyloid is produced when a large protein called APP, or
amyloid precursor protein, is chopped into smaller pieces by scissor-like proteins called beta-secretase and gamma-secretase.
PRX-03140 is highly selective for the 5-HT4 receptor in the brain, and preclinical studies have shown that it improves cognitive function, as well as increases levels of acetylcholine (ACh), soluble
amyloid precursor protein (sAPP) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in regions of the brain known to be important for memory.
