Acting downstream of TREM2, PLCγ2 facilitates phagocytic microglial behavior such as lipid processing. PLCγ2 also acts downstream of toll-like receptors, where it can throw a switch to inflammation.
When these tiny mural cells carried APOE4, they secreted more ApoE, causing Aβ to deposit in capillary walls. Blocking ApoE production prevented angiopathy.
New research suggests the R47H variant protects neurons from neurodegeneration, raising questions about staging and direction of future TREM2-based therapy.
As the SARS-Cov-2 infection peak passes in some areas, scientists are resuming lab work and clinical studies, albeit with new safety protocols in place. Regions differ greatly in how fast they can reopen.
Many Alzheimer’s trials had minimal dosing interruptions, but recruitment stopped for a time. Others trials fared worse, with some scrapped altogether. One administered study drug in an ambulance.
By suppressing a single gene, scientists triggered the transformation of astrocytes into neurons in the mouse substantia nigra, where the converts released dopamine and connected with the striatum.
A mouse study claims that the small GTPase restrains pro-inflammatory responses in microglia. Aβ oligomers inhibit RhoA, promoting Aβ deposition and neurodegeneration.
Researchers used PET scans from 4,000 people to link RBFOX1 risk variants to amyloidosis. People with lower RBFOX1 expression in their brains had more amyloid and worse cognition.
As mice age, a busy receptor-mediated protein transport across the barrier wanes; inhibiting an alkaline phosphatase restores it. Meanwhile, the aging barrier becomes generally leaky to large molecules.
Released from hippocampal neurons in response to experience, the cytokine prompted microglia to eat extracellular matrix around synapses. This facilitated growth of new spines, and sharpened memory.