Memory restored in Alzheimer-model mice

[n2doc]

Alzheimer mice memories restored


he enzyme seemed to repair memory function


The memory of mice suffering from Alzheimer's disease has been restored, a study shows. US scientists increased the activity of an enzyme called Uch-L1 which is involved in memory function. They then tested the mice and found that they had regained the ability to form new memories. Writing in the journal Cell, the team said the work was in its early stages, but could help the development of therapies for the debilitating disease. The scientists used transgenic mice that had Alzheimer's disease. Like humans with the condition, the mice had plaques of protein amyloid beta in their brain and damaged synapses (the site where brain cells communicate with each other), and they also suffered from memory loss.

The researchers injected the mice with a substance which boosted levels of the enzyme Uch-L1. They then tested the mice's memory by putting them into a cage where they were exposed to a very mild shock from the cage floor. Mice with normal memories stay still when they are placed in the cage for a second time, to avoid the shock, whereas mice with Alzheimer's do not because they cannot remember their first visit. The researchers found that when they placed the mice with boosted Uch-L1 levels into the cage, they stayed still like the normal mice.

Dr Ottavio Arancio, an author on the paper from Columbia University's Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and Aging, said: "We injected the mice with this enzyme, and we found we were restoring their memories." He said further investigation revealed the enzyme also seemed to repair the synapse function of the mice. Michael Shelanski, another author on the paper from Columbia University, said: "While amyloid beta is certainly a key player in Alzheimer's disease - and efforts to reduce it remain a worthy goal - our results show that, even in the presence of the plaque, damage to memory can be reversed."

The authors propose that the enzyme could be targeted to look for new therapies for Alzheimer's disease; however they cautioned that the research is in its early stages. Dr Shelanski said: "While this discovery is very promising, its proven effectiveness is limited to animal models and it will take some time before it could lead to therapies in humans. "We continue to work towards that crucial goal." In an accompanying commentary, Peter Lansbury, a neurobiologist from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, said: "Understanding the molecular mechanism of memory is one of the most compelling and complex challenges for the next generation of scientists. "They identify a protein that may be involved in both normal memory function and the type of memory loss characteristic of early Alzheimer's disease." Harriet Millward, deputy chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This is a very encouraging piece of research that could potentially open up a new front in the battle against Alzheimer's disease. "It is fair to say though, that at this stage a cure is still a long way off. More research is needed to see if this result could eventually be extrapolated from mice to men."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5279432.stm

[MADem]

1. Jesus, this is big....

Assuming they CAN extrapolate the result, of course. But really, why couldn't they?

This will make the lives of many elderly and their caregivers so much better.

Imagine how much faster we'd have a solution if we could've spared some of that Eye-Rack War money on this sort of research?

[n2doc]

4. One good sign is that they used transgenic mice

So the disease is, in theory, caused by the same genetic defect as in Humans. Still a ways to go, but damn that would be great if memory could be maintained or improved.

[Ghost Dog]

2. Here's hoping and praying

the researchers get enough finance to continue down this line.

[eleny]

3. K&R

[Control-Z]

5. Wow! n/t

[Tom Joad]

6. Can it cure Republicanism too?

I will not rest until there is a cure.
Watch the Labor day marathon!

[midnight]

10. So absolutely amazing that an enzyme might be able to

reverse Alzheimers disease, but to cure Repblicant disease, well, I don't hold out much hope.

[ms liberty]

7. K&R - very important! n/t

[JanusAscending]

8. This is so astounding, and promising!

My Mom had Alzheimer's for 11 yrs. until she passed from Pneumonia. I donated her brain to the Altz. Association for research, with the hope that someway her life, and then her dying, would help in the research for a cure. This gives me great hope, because the gene may have been passed down to me. I don't want to know, but I'd like to hope that there is progress being made.(just in case!):applause: Thank you for posting this!! DC

[DesertRat]

9. K & R

:toast:

[tomreedtoon]

11. I'm happy, but also sad. And it's not obvious why.

Now, I could say that "I'm happy but sad" for one reason. My mother, who died earlier this year, was ravaged by Alzheimer's. Her mind just wasted away. And I didn't even get the brunt of the horror of it; my older sister, with whom she lived, had to face that.

That would be the obvious reason to be happy but sad; sad that it was too late, but happy that someday someone else might be aided by this discovery. But that's not it.

I'm happy that the cure exists, but sad because, thanks to Big Pharma, when the cure is developed it will cost more than 99 percent of the people can afford. Even with insurance. Even if they try something forbidden by the Republicans and try to get it cheaper from Canada.

There's a wonderful world of new medicines and treatments out there. And all we'll be able to do is watch the rich and powerful get them. It might be good that my mother didn't live long enough to see this cure developed, because we would have seen her go without it, and felt even more impotent and angry.