DOI: 10.1097/01.NT.0000475380.34941.08
,
Issn Print: 1533-7006
Publication Date: 2015/11/19
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
 |
Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid | |
Excerpt
CHICAGO—Researchers have developed a strategy to prevent the formation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) with a compound that blocks the dimerization of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), according to a study presented here in October at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Previous research has shown that inducing dimerization — the biochemical reaction that joins two molecules into a single dimer — increases Abeta. Carmela R. Abraham, PhD, a professor of biochemistry and pharmacology at Boston University School of Medicine, and her colleagues wanted to determine what would happen if she and colleages were able to inhibit dimerization.
The findings, which build on research first published in 2012, could provide a new therapeutic target, said Dr. Abraham, whose colleague, Ella Zeldich, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the university, presented the results at the meeting.
“There are a lot of companies working on inhibiting beta-secretase and gamma-secretase, the two enzymes that carve Abeta from its precursor, APP, or they are trying to clear the brain of Abeta using immunotherapy,” said Dr. Abraham. “I think it is important to stop Abeta from being made in the first place. If Abeta is already present, as detected by neuroimaging, our compounds could be used in combination with immunotherapy.
