Brain cleaners reprogramming to clear Alzheimer's disease

The study focused on microglia, cells that stabilize the brain by removing damaged neurons and protein plaques commonly associated with dementia and other brain disorder.

Although changes in these cells are known to play an important role in Alzheimer's and other brain disorders, said Martin Kampmann, PhD, senior author of the study, published Au.

"Now, using a new CRISPR method we've developed, we can reveal how to actually control these microglia so that they stop doing toxic things and get back to their vital cleaning job," he sai.

Harnessing the brain's immune system

Most of the genes known to increase Alzheimer's risk work through microgli.

Microglia are the immune system of the brai.

For example, under certain conditions, microglia begin to remove synapses between neuron.

Over the past 5 years or so, many studies have observed and analyzed these different microglial states, but none have been able to characterize the genes underlying the.

Kampmann and his team wanted to determine which genes are involved in specific states of microglial activity and how those states are regulate.

From Advanced Genomics to the Holy Grail

Achieving this task requires overcoming fundamental barriers that prevent researchers from controlling gene expression in these cell.

To overcome this problem, Kampmann's team induced stem cells donated by human volunteers to become microglia and confirmed that these cells functioned the same as normal human cell.

Through the analysis, Kampmann and his team identified genes that affect the cells' ability to survive and proliferate, how actively the cells produce inflammatory substances, and how aggressively the cells prune synapse.

Since scientists have identified the genes that control these activities, they were able to reset those genes, returning diseased cells to a healthy stat.

With this new technology, Kampmann plans to study how to control the relevant state of microglia by targeting microglia with existing drug molecules and testing them in preclinical model.

Once the right genes are flipped, the "repaired" microglia are likely to resume their duties, clearing the plaques associated with neurodegenerative diseases and protecting synapses, rather than tearing them apart, Kampman sai.

"Our research provides a blueprint for a new treatment approach," he sai.

Journal Reference:

1. Nina .

   
   

University of California - San Francisc.
"Reprogramming the brain's cleaning crew to mop up Alzheimer's diseas.
" ScienceDail.
ScienceDaily, 11 August 202 <ww.
sciencedail.
com/releases/2022/08/22081113541htm>.

University of California - San Francisc.
(2022, August 11.
Reprogramming the brain's cleaning crew to mop up Alzheimer's diseas.
ScienceDail.
Retrieved August 15, 2022 from ww.
sciencedail.
com/releases/2022/08/22081113541htm

University of California - San Francisc.
"Reprogramming the brain's cleaning crew to mop up Alzheimer's diseas.
" ScienceDail.
ww.
sciencedail.
com/releases/2022/08/22081113541htm (accessed August 15, 2022.