Alzheimer’s breakthrough: scientists have discovered how brain cells die

Experts based in the UK and Belgium believe they may have finally answered a question that has flawed medical research for decades.  

A study which was published in the journal Science last week revealed scientists may have discovered how brain cells die in Alzheimer’s disease. The condition develops when cells, known as neurons, pass on and cause memory loss.

However, the group of scientists, who are based at the UK’s Dementia Research Institute at University College London and KU Leuven in Belgium, have found a connection between the abnormal proteins that build up in the brain with ‘necroptosis’ – a form of cellular suicide that occurs with neurons.

The scientists achieved their discovery by transplanting human brain cells into genetically modified mice, who were programmed to produce large amounts of abnormal amyloid -a protein that is found in our brains and bodies, but in Alzheimer’s disease amyloid sticks together and forms different sized clumps that later develop into plaques in the brain.

Following this, Alzheimer’s can also be caused by the build-up of a protein called tau, which forms insoluble filaments that accumulate as neurofibrillary tangles.

Scientists believe the abnormal proteins build-up in spaces between neurons, causing brain inflammation which results in a change to the internal chemistry. Against this backdrop, a molecule called Maternal expressed Gene 3 is produced which triggers necroptosis.

Bart De Strooper from the UK Dementia Research Institute told the BBC: ‘This is a very important and interesting finding.

‘For the first time, we get a clue to how and why neurons die in Alzheimer’s disease. There’s been a lot of speculation for 30-40 years, but nobody has been able to pinpoint the mechanisms.’

News of scientists making this discovery comes during World Alzheimer’s Month and experts have claimed their findings are a major leap forward but will probably take years to be implemented into medicine.

Image: National Cancer Institute

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