ALZHEIMER

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Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 18.7.2005 11:20

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Posted on Fri, Jul. 15, 2005

Mice regain memory as gene blocked

By Dianne Finch

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Mice with brain damage recovered lost memories after scientists turned off a gene known to cause symptoms similar to those found in Alzheimer's patients, according to a study in today's journal Science.

Scientists used this gene, derived from human DNA, to cause brain damage and premature aging in mice. When scientists turned this gene off, 70 percent regained memories on how to exit an underwater maze.

"I think the most important news is that even in mice that lost half of their neurons involved in forming memories, when we removed the molecules causing memory loss, mice were able to remember information in the maze better," said Karen Ashe, the study's lead author and neurology professor at the University of Minnesota, where the study was conducted.

While the study did not involve Alzheimer's disease directly, the gene used caused a type of brain damage similar to damage long believed to be a marker for the disease. Ashe said that those markers, or proteins resembling steel wool called tangles, were present in the rodents' brains though did not decrease when memory was recovered.

That finding surprised the team and raised questions about whether they were true indicators of the disease, Ashe said.

Ashe said her team also was surprised to learn that the mice recovered memories from parts of the brain that had been damaged before the gene was turned off.

"We expected to halt the progression," she said, "but we actually partially restored memory function in these mice."

According to the Alzheimer's Association, about 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, which destroys the brain's nerve cells and leads to loss of memory and the ability to learn. By 2050, the association estimates there will be as many as 16 million with the disease.

Bill Thies, vice president of medical and science affairs for the association in Chicago, said that while human brains might not react the same way, the study should inspire pharmaceutical companies to develop treatments.

"The Alzheimer's market is probably one of the last great opportunities for pharmaceutical companies in that lots of people need to be treated and there isn't anything available now," Thies said. "And the person that makes that better mouse trap is going to make a fair amount of money."