Alzheimer's Diseased Mice Regain Normal Memory with
Enzyme Boost
May provide a promising strategy for battling
Alzheimer's disease
August 24, 2006 - Researchers at Columbia
University Medical Center have successfully restored normal memory and
synaptic function in mice suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The study
was published today on the website of the journal Cell.
| |
Related Stories |
|
| |
Drug Fully Reverses Age-Related Memory Loss by
Triggering Natural Mechanism
Study with rats shows ampakines boost brains
protein in government financed study
July 27, 2006 - A drug made to enhance memory
appears to trigger a natural mechanism in the brain that fully reverses
age-related memory loss, even after the drug itself has left the body,
according to researchers at UC Irvine. This is a significant
discovery, said Christine Gall, professor of anatomy and neurobiology.
Our results indicate the exciting possibility that ampakines could be
used to treat learning and memory loss associated with normal aging.
Read more...
One Brain Cell Can Generate New Ones to Replace
Every Cell in Donor's Brain, Researchers Find
Research find healing
potential normally associated with stem cells
August 17, 2006 - University of Florida researchers
have shown ordinary human brain cells may share the prized qualities of
self-renewal and adaptability normally associated with stem cells. The
findings document for the first time the ability of common human brain
cells to morph into different cell types, a previously unknown
characteristic, and are the result of the research teams long-term
investigations of adult human stem cells and rodent embryonic stem
cells. Read more...
Read more
on
Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health |
|
Scientists at Columbia's Taub Institute for
Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain have identified an
enzyme that is required for normal cognition but that is impaired in a
mouse model of Alzheimer's. They discovered that mice regained the
ability to form new memories when the enzyme's function was elevated.
The research suggests that boosting the function of
this enzyme, known as ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 (Uch-L1), may
provide a promising strategy for battling Alzheimer's disease, and
perhaps reversing its effects.
In the new study, the Columbia researchers
discovered that the enzyme Uch-L1 is part of a molecular network that
controls a memory molecule called CREB, which is inhibited by amyloid
beta proteins in people with Alzheimer's. By increasing Uch-L1 levels in
mice that had Alzheimer's, they were able to improve the animals'
ability to create new memories.
"Because the amyloid beta proteins that cause
Alzheimer's may play a normal, important physiological role in the body,
we can't destroy them as a therapy," explained Ottavio Arancio, M.D.,
Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pathology at Columbia University Medical
Center and co-principal investigator of the study with Michael Shelanski,
MD, Ph.D., Chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Columbia
University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
"What makes this newly discovered enzyme exciting
as a potentially effective therapy is that it restores memory without
destroying amyloid beta proteins."
The researchers tested the memory of the mice by
putting them in a cage where they were exposed to a mild stimulus when
they touched the cage floor. Mice with normal memory remain still the
second time they're placed in the cage, as they recognize the place
where they were initially exposed to the stimulus. But mice with
Alzheimer's-like changes do not remember the place, and continue moving
within the cage. When the Alzheimer's mice were treated with Uch-L1,
they acted like normal mice, and remained still.
"While this discovery is very promising, its proven
effectiveness is limited to animal models and it will take some time
before it could lead to therapies in humans," said Dr. Shelanski. "We
continue to work towards that crucial goal." The work was supported by
the National Institutes of Neurological Disease and Stroke and the
Alzheimer's Center Program of the National Institute of Aging.
About Columbia
Columbia University Medical Center provides
international leadership in pre-clinical and clinical research, in
medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical
center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many
physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and public health
professionals at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the College of
Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public
Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and
Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions.
www.cumc.columbia.edu
