The formation of amyloid plaques starts with soluble amyloid-β monomers, which coalesce to form small oligomers, protofibrils, fibrils, and finally the amyloid plaques that pack the intraneural spaces in the brains of Alzheimer's patients...
While the hunt for new Alzheimer’s disease genes continues apace, researchers are still struggling to understand the exact <em>modus operandi</em> of the one prize they have had in hand for years: the lipid carrier protein ApoE.
Research by Jorge Busciglio's lab suggests that focal adhesion (FA) proteins may be critical elements in the production of dystrophic neurites in Alzheimer's disease.
In the January 7 PNAS, researchers from the biopharmaceutical company Scios Inc. reported that sumoylation, the covalent modification of lysine residues by small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) proteins, has a dramatic impact on amyloid β production...
Deficiencies in a component of the reelin developmental signaling cascade produces a mouse that mimics the increased phosphorylation of tau protein seen in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative tauopathies...
Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, big words describing huge, growing sets of data. The challenge, however, lies not so much in adding more and more to these databases...
In this week's early online edition of PNAS, researchers report that chaperones may play a vital role in regulating protein aggregation in Alzheimer's disease (AD)...
The covalent modification of proteins by phosphorylation of specific amino acids has evolved as a powerful and rapid way for cells to respond to a multitude of internal and external stimuli...
A meta-analysis of clinical trials indicates that cholinesterase inhibitors do more than boost cognitive test scores in Alzheimer's patients. As reported in yesterday’s Journal of the American Medical Association...
Early last month, 118 scientists braved a snowstorm on the Eastern seaboard to gather at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New York, for a conference on therapeutic opportunities in neurodegenerative diseases...
<strong>Raj Kalaria</strong> and <strong>Francine Gervais</strong> organized the Second International Conference on cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), held December 4 to 6 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England...
In conflict with a number of recent studies, six-year data from the Rotterdam study of aging failed to show a link between dietary fat and risk of dementia. The results are reported in today’s Neurology...
Over 100 point mutations in the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene have been linked to the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Exactly why these mutations cause ALS is unclear, but...
A new MAO-B inhibitor, rasagiline, proved safe and about as effective as the existing drug, selegiline, in ameliorating symptoms of early Parkinson's. What about its use in Alzheimer's with Parkinsonism?