Immune Therapy For Alzheimer’s Disease?
A new study (in mice) uses an APOE4 antibody to clear amyloid plaques and — potentially — improve brain function
A tale of plaques and tangles
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain condition associated with cognitive, memory, and behavioral problems.
In human Alzheimer’s-affected brains, we see two big signs: amyloid plaques in the space between brain cells (the yellow-brown blobs in the picture above), and neurofibrillary tangles inside brain cells (the green-blue threads). Plaques and tangles are among the main hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (although the cause-effect relationship is not yet entirely clear, aka are these symptoms or causes of the disease?).
The concurrence of plaques and tangles is actually rather rare in other animals, which might be why Alzheimer’s disease does not seem to be widespread in the animal kingdom (then again, most wild animals probably die before becoming very old). Some primates, and dolphins, do appear to develop ‘human-style’ Alzheimer’s disease, and recently pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses) have joined this club.
There are genetic risk factors, and several genes seem to be involved. Perhaps the most well-known one is the gene…
