Word: amyloid
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...several years, researchers have known that the brain cells of Alzheimer's victims are clogged with an overabundance of beta amyloid. The sticky protein forms plaques that can kill the cells, gradually producing memory loss. But why do some people have an excess of the amyloid, and why does it accumulate in the brain...
...brains of victims characteristically contain plaques that include the beta amyloid, but its presence can only be confirmed after death. Whether it helps cause the brain degeneration or is a by-product is not clear. But if the beta amyloid is the cause, then the Boston research could represent a turning point. The study suggests that the suspect chemical may be produced in one or more tissues outside the brain, circulate in the bloodstream and enter various other tissues. But damage seems to occur only when the beta amyloid is deposited in certain regions of the brain important to memory...
...also one of the most mysterious. Now scientists have found a small but tantalizing clue to its workings. Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe, co-director of the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, led a team of researchers that detected deposits of beta amyloid protein, long associated with Alzheimer's, in the skin, blood vessels and intestines of patients with the disorder. Previously the beta amyloid had been found only in the brains of Alzheimer's victims. The study, reported in last week's Nature, suggests that Alzheimer's may not begin in the brain...
Within the past two weeks four separate groups of researchers disclosed that they had isolated a gene, also on chromosome 21, that is responsible for the protein in the deposits. The proximity of the markers to the gene suggests either that the protein, which is called amyloid, is the cause of Alzheimer's * or that the amyloid gene lies in the vicinity of the gene responsible for the inherited form of the disease...
...further research proves that the amyloid protein is the cause of Alzheimer's rather than just a symptom of the disorder, researchers could begin the search for a drug to curb its production. The markers found by Gusella's team could lead to even more immediate results: isolation of the gene that causes familial Alzheimer's. And this would enable doctors to identify some victims of the disease before their symptoms appear...