beta amyloid news from FierceBioResearcher

A discovery that the presence of prions interrupts the buildup of beta amyloid may point to new therapies to treat Alzheimer's. The research work was triggered by similarities between human mad cow disease and Alzheimer's. In mad cow disease, corrupted prion proteins cause brain damage. When the level of normal prions is high, the researchers noted, the presence of beta amyloids was low. When the level of prions was low, though, beta amyloids were more prevalent. To test the work, …

A researcher at Purdue University laboratory is working on a compound that he says could become the first treatment available for Alzheimer's. Arun Ghosh says the molecule targets an enzyme called memapsin 2, or beta-secretase, which plays a key role in the formation of beta amyloid plaque that is widely believed to be responsible for the disease. Ghosh used X-ray crystallography to map the structure of an inhibitor he designed that was bound to the enzyme. Ghosh formed a company with …

Scientists at Japan's National Institute for Longevity Sciences are planning to push an oral Alzheimer's vaccine into clinical trials after reporting that the therapy worked in mice. The institute's director, Takeshi Tabira, says that it may be that the therapy only works at the early stage of development in humans. But when tested in mice, the researchers found that the vaccine reduced beta amyloid in the animals genetically modified to develop Alzheimer's and improved their brain …

A class of widely used anesthetics spurs production of beta amyloid in the brains of mice, according to a study completed at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers studied halothane, one in a class of volatile anesthetics used on 60 million people a year. A common side effect of these anesthetics is 'post-operative cognitive decline' that can last from days to years. If the drugs also promote beta amyloid in the brains of humans, it could provide a direct link to Alzheimer's. While …

In a new study, researchers used a patch to deliver an Alzheimer's vaccine to mice that spurred their immune systems to recognize beta amyloid protein and destroy it. That protein is linked to the formation of beta amyloid plaque in the brain that characterizes the memory-wasting disease. The researchers say that the decision to deliver the vaccine transdermally could help avoid incidences of inflammation and death in a study involving an injected vaccine. If a follow-up study finds that …

New research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine suggests that commonly used therapies for high blood pressure may help prevent the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's. Working with animals engineered to produce beta-amyloid, a plaque in the brain that builds up as Alzheimer's develops, researchers injected a series of drugs to see what kind of effect could be achieved. Seven of the drugs that demonstrated an ability to prevent the build-up of beta-amyloid were for high blood …

Injecting extracts of the brains of people who died from Alzheimer's can induce brain disease in mice that includes prion brain disorders such as mad cow's disease, according to a research group at the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University. The scientists say that this is the first time that researchers have been able to induce pathology by working with the brains of Alzheimer's victims. They also say that there are different strains of Alzheimer's. The …