Cell: Identification of genetic networks induced by amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease.

27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- --- The brains of people with Alzheimer's disease are covered with plaques: a protein polymer consisting mainly of beta amyloid (A-beta).Despite decades of research, the true contribution of these plaques to the course of the disease remains unclear. In a new study, a team of researchers led by Bart De Strooper and Mark Fiers of the VIB Brain and Disease Research Center in Belgium used cutting-edge techniques to study in detail what was happening in brain cells near these plaques.they showhow different types of brain cells in the brain work together to respond to amyloid plaques, which may initially be protective but then damage the brain.related findings were published online July 22, 2020 in the journal Cell, with the title "Spatial Case and In Situing To Research's Disease."images from Cell, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.038.the role of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease has puzzled scientists since Alois Alzheimer first discovered amyloid plaques in the brains of a young woman with dementia.now, more than a century later, we've learned a lot about the molecular processes that cause neurodegeneration and subsequent memory loss, but the relationship between these plaques and the processes of the disease in the brain remains blurred. "Amyloid plaques may be a trigger or driver of disease, and the accumulation of beta amyloid in the brain is likely to initiate a complex multicellular neurodegenerative process,"de Strooper said." his team set out to map the molecular changes that occur in brain cells near amyloid plaques. "We use the latest techniques to analyze genome-wide transcription group changes caused by amyloid plaques in hundreds of small tissue blocks,"Fiers said.in this way, we can generate a large data set of transcriptional changes that occur in the brains of mice and humans with an increase in amyloid pathology. "We focused on transcription changes near amyloid plaques (50 microns in circumotherum," " explained Wei-Ting Chen, co-author of the two gene co-expression network papers and a postdoctoral researcher on the De Strooper team." In a well-researched genetic mouse model that showed amyloid pathology, the researchers found two new gene co-expression networks that appeared to be highly sensitive to beta amyloid deposits. "With the increase in beta amyloid deposits, a multicellular co-expression gene reaction containing no less than 57 plaque-inducing genes is produced,"Chen said. "These genes are mainly expressed in two supportive brain cells--- astrocytes and small glial cells ---, and are not co-expressed in the absence of amyloid plaques, ". "We also found interesting changes in the second gene co-expression network, which is mainly expressed by another type of brain cell --- the --- of the destrucitoid cells," added Ashley Lu, a doctoral student in de Strooper's team, who co-authored thepaper.this genetic network is activated under mild amyloid stress, but is downgraded in a microenvironment with a high accumulation of amyloid protein. , " fiers added, "many of the genes in both networks showed similar changes in human brain samples, reinforcing our observations." "Our data suggest that amyloid plaques are not as innocent bystanders to the disease as sometimes thought, and in fact it induces a strong and coordinated response from all surrounding cells," said De Strooper, ." further research is needed to understand whether and when to reverse these ongoing cellular processes through antibody--- therapy currently being developed against amyloid plaques--- " whether the binding of antibodies to amyloid plaques can also regulate the reaction of these glial cells remains to be determined. "In any case, this complicates the interpretation of the results of clinical trials because the cellular effects of different antibodies may be different," added de Strooper, . " (Bioon.com) References: 1.Wei-Ting DIng Chen et al. Spatial R. R. And In Situing to Alzheimer's Disease. Cell, 2020, doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.06.038.2.What happens around an plaque Alzheimer?