Researchers have discovered how a protein that drives the development of Alzheimer’s disease becomes a disease state, offering hopes of a treatment. In a study published Thursday, the team at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, revealed how a protein called tau is transformed to have toxic effects on brain cells.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, contributes up to 70% of cases and has no effective cure or therapy.
In the course of Alzheimer’s development, tau builds up within brain cells and progressively changes into a disease state.
“Along with a small peptide called beta-amyloid, the tau protein is a central factor in Alzheimer’s disease. The tau is needed for toxic effects on brain cells that lead to impaired memory function. “Arne Ittner, a senior neuroscience researcher at the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute and lead author of Thursday’s study, said in a press release.
By conducting a large experiment that included up to 20 changes to Tau, Ittner’s team discovered “master sites” in Tau that govern modifications to most other sites.
“By modifying these master sites, we were able to drive the modification at several other sites within tau, resulting in a similar state observed in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients,” Ittner said.
They found that mice that had a tau version without one of the master sites were less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those that had the usual version of the protein.
Researchers will then change their approach to translating their findings into treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
“We have shown that this new concept has therapeutic potential, but future work is needed to understand the role of these master posts in health and disease,” said Kristie Stefanoska, a researcher in Dementia at Flinders University.