Enzyme Sheds Light on Alzheimer's
Enzyme Sheds Light on Alzheimer's
Enzyme Sheds Light on Alzheimer's
Sept. 13, 2002 -- A new discovery about an Alzheimer's enzyme linked to the formation of brain-clogging plaques may eventually lead to new treatments that could stop the progression of the disease -- even in its later stages.
Researchers have found that the amount and activity of an enzyme known as BACE is higher in the parts of the brains where these plaques are most commonly found in people with Alzheimer's disease. BACE is one of two enzymes that is required to create the sticky protein fragments that make up the plaques.
"Our key finding is that [BACE] activity, the efficiency of how the enzyme works, is increased in Alzheimer's diseased brains specifically in those areas affected by the disease," says study author Michael Irizarry, MD, of the department of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a news release.
The study is published in the September issue of the Archives of Neurology.
In the study, researchers compared brain tissue from 61 people who had died of Alzheimer's to tissue from 33 people who did not have the disease when they died. They found BACE activity in the Alzheimer's patients was significantly higher in two areas of the brain commonly affected by Alzheimer's -- areas that control thought and memory.
People who had suffered from the disease for longer periods of time also had larger increases in BACE activity.
Irizarry says those findings show that activity related to this enzyme persists and even increases as the disease progresses, which would make it a good target for treatment, even at later stages of the disease.
In an accompanying editorial, Roger N. Rosenberg, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, says this study provides a compelling reason to develop new Alzheimer's treatments directed at blocking BACE.
Researchers say the next step is to learn what factors are behind the increase in BACE activity in people with Alzheimer's disease.
Enzyme Sheds Light on Alzheimer's
Enzyme Sheds Light on Alzheimer's
Sept. 13, 2002 -- A new discovery about an Alzheimer's enzyme linked to the formation of brain-clogging plaques may eventually lead to new treatments that could stop the progression of the disease -- even in its later stages.
Researchers have found that the amount and activity of an enzyme known as BACE is higher in the parts of the brains where these plaques are most commonly found in people with Alzheimer's disease. BACE is one of two enzymes that is required to create the sticky protein fragments that make up the plaques.
"Our key finding is that [BACE] activity, the efficiency of how the enzyme works, is increased in Alzheimer's diseased brains specifically in those areas affected by the disease," says study author Michael Irizarry, MD, of the department of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, in a news release.
The study is published in the September issue of the Archives of Neurology.
In the study, researchers compared brain tissue from 61 people who had died of Alzheimer's to tissue from 33 people who did not have the disease when they died. They found BACE activity in the Alzheimer's patients was significantly higher in two areas of the brain commonly affected by Alzheimer's -- areas that control thought and memory.
People who had suffered from the disease for longer periods of time also had larger increases in BACE activity.
Irizarry says those findings show that activity related to this enzyme persists and even increases as the disease progresses, which would make it a good target for treatment, even at later stages of the disease.
In an accompanying editorial, Roger N. Rosenberg, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, says this study provides a compelling reason to develop new Alzheimer's treatments directed at blocking BACE.
Researchers say the next step is to learn what factors are behind the increase in BACE activity in people with Alzheimer's disease.