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Saturday, August 14, 2004Amyloid beta, the waxy protein that litters the brains of Alzheimer's patients, is like a criminal with many arrests but no convictions. Studies have implicated amyloid plaques in the disease, but nobody has proved that they cause it. Now, scientists working with mice report that antibodies tailor-made to attack amyloid can wipe it out and reverse an experimental version of Alzheimer's disease if the intervention begins early enough. What's more, removing amyloid rubbed out its partner in crime, a protein called tau that collects in tangles inside brain cells. In their tests, LaFerla and his colleagues used mice genetically engineered to make excess amyloid and tau. The researchers then injected antibodies against amyloid into the animals' brains. Three days later, the researchers could not find any amyloid plaques in the brain region targeted by the injection, but neurons there still contained tau tangles. After 2 more days, these tangles were cleared too. Interesting. And more promising in potential than stem cells. posted by Sydney on 8/14/2004 01:49:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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