Word: amyloid
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Supporters of the first scenario believe abnormalities in a protein called tau cause neurons in the brain's memory centers to clutter themselves up with tangled filaments, bringing cellular metabolism to a standstill. Still others think the damage is dealt by an external agent: the so-called beta-amyloid protein that aggregates in the brain, forming fibrous plaques. These plaques in turn injure neighboring neurons, causing them...
Thousands of researchers are searching for the cause, but the answer still eludes them. Autopsies of victims turn up characteristic brain lesions and abnormal accumulations of the protein beta amyloid. It's unclear, though, whether the telltale protein is a cause or effect of the disease. Researchers are now trying to prove that certain genes increase susceptibility...
...protein that plays a crucial role in Alzheimer's may hold the key to developing a test for early detection of the disease. The protein, beta amyloid, destroys a brain cell's ability to regulate potassium, the chemical that triggers signals governing memory. Since the protein also affects other cells, scientists hope to develop a skin test to detect the onset of Alzheimer...
Roses proposes that amyloid has an accomplice: a blood protein called ApoE. Its main function seems to be transporting cholesterol, but according to Roses, ApoE can also latch on to amyloid and cart it into brain cells. How often that happens may depend on what type of ApoE a person has, which in turn depends on the genes that direct the making of ApoE. Those genes come in at least three varieties -- dubbed E2, E3 and E4 -- and everyone has two of the genes, one from each parent...
...victims have E4. But the evidence indicating that E4 increases the risk may lead to a blood test to identify people likely to develop Alzheimer's. If Roses is right, the research may also help design a drug to keep ApoE from carrying so much amyloid into brain cells -- and thus prevent the proteins from doing their deadly work...