Nat Med: Completes largest Alzheimer's-related protein study to date

The study revealed changes in protein networks, with large-scale analysis linking glucose metabolites to Alzheimer's biologyIn the largest study of Alzheimer's-related proteins to date, a team of researchers identified proteins and biological processes for specific diseases that could serve as new therapeutic targets and liquid biomarkersThe results showed that proteins that regulate glucose metabolism, as well as those associated with the protective effects of astrocytes and small glial cells (supporting cells in the brain), were closely related to the pathology and cognitive impairment of Alzheimer's diseasethe findings, published April 13 in the journal Nature Medicinethe study is part of the Alzheimer's Accelerated Drug Partnership (AMP-AD)The team analyzed more than 2,000 brain and nearly 400 cerebrospinal fluid samples from healthy people and Alzheimer's patients, and identified protein groups (modules) that reflect the biological processes of the brainAfter, the researchers analyzed the relationship between protein modules and various pathological and clinical characteristics of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseasesThey performed a cerebral pathology analysis in brain samples from people with Alzheimer's disease and found that protein changes associated with glucose metabolism and anti-inflammatory reactions of glial cells were observed in normal individual samplesThis suggests that the anti-inflammatory process designed to protect nerve cells may have been activated against the disease, the researchers saidresearchers also found that, like brain tissue, proteins in the spinal fluid of Alzheimer's patients associated with cells extracting energy from glucose are also increasingMany of these proteins also have elevated expression in patients with preclinical Alzheimer's disease ( i.epeople with brain pathology but no cognitive impairment symptoms)Importantly, glucose metabolism/glial protein modules are filled with proteins known to be genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease, indicating that the biological processes reflected by these protein families involve actual disease processes"For some time now, we have been studying the possible link between abnormal patterns in the brain's metabolism of glucose and changes associated with Alzheimer's disease, and recent analysis suggests that these proteins may also have the potential to detect the presence of early diseases as fluid biomarkers," the authors saidthis large comparative proteomics study shows that many biological processes of Alzheimer's disease have changed dramatically and provide new insights into the role of brain energy metabolism and nerve inflammation in the course of disease brain tissue samples from participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, as well as some epidemiological studies, the brain data set also included samples of individuals with six other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as samples representing normal aging, so that molecular markers specific to Alzheimer's disease were found in addition, the authors say this is a basic study Basic research increases our understanding of human behavior and biology and is the basis for advancing new and better ways of preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases Science is an unpredictable and progressive process, and every research advance is based on past findings and often in unexpected ways Most clinical advances are impossible without basic basic research knowledge