Microglia Build Plaques to Protect the Brain
Instead of chewing up and disposing of the amyloid they ingest, microglia appear to compact it, then spit it back out as dense-core plaque.
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Instead of chewing up and disposing of the amyloid they ingest, microglia appear to compact it, then spit it back out as dense-core plaque.
As FTD consortia chase biomarkers, they see plasma NfL and neuronal pentraxin-2—which reflect neurodegeneration—change before symptoms. Trials nudge progranulin and poly-DP. Still needed: more markers of the pathophysiology that unfolds in the brain.
People who carry the ApoE4 variant are more likely to succumb to the virus. In vitro, SARS-CoV-2 infects more ApoE4 than ApoE3 brain cells. Astrocytes were activated, neurons degenerated.
The Phase 2 trial provides the strongest evidence yet that removing most amyloid from the brain bolsters cognition, although the benefit is small.
A new PET tracer. Plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein. Two new, promising surrogates for astrogliosis are filling in the Alzheimer’s biomarker toolbox. Both reflect Aβ amyloid better than they do tau tangles.
The more a person’s gut microbiome becomes individualized with age, the longer that person's lifespan and the better his or her health, say scientists.
A large multinational epidemiology study finds only small and inconsistent associations.
A postmortem study found that people who had more aggregation-prone, hyperphosphorylated, oligomeric forms of tau in their brains also had a more aggressive form of Alzheimer’s disease during life. Will we personalize tauopathy care like cancer care?
Researchers unearthed 75 risk loci, 42 of them new, and nominated candidate genes for each. A polygenic risk score based on all variants predicted AD risk with high accuracy.
Two mouse models presented at AD/PD may hand scientists more translationally relevant tools to explore LOAD pathophysiology and treatment. The tricks: targeted replacement and knocking in multiple GWAS variants.
A panel of experts concludes the evidence for this scary prospect is weak, but recommends neurosurgeons use separate neurosurgical instruments for young and old patients. The experts called for further studies.
Incorporation of a cryptic exon scuttles translation of UNC13A, but only in neurons lacking nuclear TDP-43. UNC13A ALS/FTD risk variants exacerbate the aberrant splicing.
In early stage trials, light and sound promoted neuronal communication, calmed immune cells, and slowed brain atrophy, but cognitive benefit remains unclear.