New study shows how amyloid plaques cause Alzheimer's Disease

The study on Alzheimer's offers an explanation on how plaques damage the brain by breaking up important neurotransmitters.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
From Right to Left: Pig’s brain; standard MRI brain scan; new MRI scan showing differences in molecular makeup in different parts of the brain (photo credit: SHIR FILO/HEBREW UNIVERSITY)
From Right to Left: Pig’s brain; standard MRI brain scan; new MRI scan showing differences in molecular makeup in different parts of the brain
(photo credit: SHIR FILO/HEBREW UNIVERSITY)
Amyloid plaques, aggregates of misfolded proteins that form in the spaces between nerve cells and make up the beta-amyloid protein, can speed up neurotransmitter degradation, according to a new study conducted at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
The study's findings were published in the peer-reviewed Chem Catalysis, a Cell Press journal. 
Amyloid plaques are the hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, however it is still not clear if and how such plaques contribute to the progression of these diseases. 
The study offers an explanation on how the plaques damage the brain by breaking up important neurotransmitters.
Research for the study was led by Prof. Raz Jelinek and PhD student Elad Arad, in collaboration with Prof. Hanna Rapaport and Avigail Baruch Leshem.
They discovered catalytic activity caused by the beta-amyloid fibrils. This is the first study to find this link.
"Our findings open intriguing new avenues of research into the molecular factors in neurodegenerative diseases that could bring us closer to therapeutic treatments," says Prof. Jelinek.


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Ben-Gurion University of the Negev