For several neurodegenerative diseases, scientists identified which cell types exert a person’s inherited risk. In Alzheimer’s, it’s microglia; in Parkinson’s, it’s dopaminergic and enteric neurons—and oligodendrocytes.
Loss-of-function variants in the demethylase TET2 raise a person’s risk for early and late-onset Alzheimer’s, as well as FTD and ALS, suggesting a common mechanism.
Award recognizes discoveries of genetic variants that perturb liquid-liquid phase separation and increase risk for ALS-FTD and other neurodegenerative diseases.
In nonhuman primates, three classes of LRRK2 kinase inhibitor cause microscopic changes in lung morphology, but they are reversible and do not impair breathing. Parkinson’s programs remain on track.
In a mouse model of amyloidosis, human wild-type TREM2 kept Aβ deposition at bay early on, but this defense became overwhelmed as plaques grew. The R47H AD risk variant never offered protection early on, and made things worse later.
For people with Parkinson’s, carrying Alzheimer’s genetic risk variants upped their odds of harboring Aβ and tau pathology and getting dementia. In people with DLB, Aβ plaques worsened tau and Lewy pathology, and cognition.
Scientists report at AAT-AD/PD that they tightened a causal connection between gut microbes, microglial function, and protein deposits. In mice, that is.
In people with Alzheimer’s biomarkers, the basal forebrain shrinks early, foreshadowing microglial neurotoxicity, atrophy in the medial temporal lobe, and cognitive decline.
Researchers at the online AAT-AD/PD meeting touted therapies that target neuroinflammation, synapses, epigenetic regulation, or the cortisol stress response.
New Assay, New Cohorts—Plasma p-Tau181 Looks Even Better 217—The Best Phospho-Tau Marker for Alzheimer’s? In DIAN-TU, Gantenerumab Brings Down Tau. By a Lot. Open Extension Planned Confused About the DIAN-TU Trial Data? Experts Discuss Active Tau Vaccine:
The AAT-AD/PD conference hosted a virtual conversation about what the trial’s disappointing cognitive and tantalizing biomarker data might mean. Hidden between thank you’s and pledges to stay committed were substantive points of debate and context.