PORTLAND, Ore. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) have identified a set of genes that appear to be involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. They hope this information will help scientists create of methods for early detection of the disease and for the development of therapeutic strategies to delay or even stop its progression. P. Hemachandra Reddy, Ph.D., of the OHSU Neurological Sciences Institute is the first and corresponding author of the paper, which will be published online on April 27, prior to its appearance in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

"Through studying a mouse model of Alzheimer's, the research team found that a series of genes related to mitochondrial metabolism in brain cells were more active than in normal mice," Reddy said. "Mitochondria are structures located in the cytoplasm of cells that produce energy for the cell. Prior research has linked Alzheimer's to mitochondrial function. However this is the first time genes that are responsible for early cellular change in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis have been identified."

Currently, there are no early detectable biomarkers for Alzheimer's, and there is a lack of understanding of the functional changes caused by this disease, particularly at its early stages. To intervene before neurons become irreversibly damaged, an understanding of early cellular events in the progression of Alzheimer's is critical. Studies of "pre-symptomatic" human subjects suggest that pathologic changes in the brain occur years before symptoms are evident, suggesting that the brain tissue from patients dying from Alzheimer's exhibits physiologic features indicative of a very late stage in the degenerative process.

To determine early cellular changes connected to Alzheimer's disease, the OHSU scientists studied mice that overexpress human mutated amyloid precursor protein. These genetically-altered mice produce heightened levels of amyloid precursor prot
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Contact: Jim Newman
newmanj@ohsu.edu
503-494-8231
Oregon Health & Science University
27-Apr-2004

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