New brain cell cleaner: Astrocytes raise possibility of Alzheimer’s disease treatment
A research team led by Dr. Hoon Ryu from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, President Sang-Rok Oh) Brain Disease Research Group, in collaboration with Director Justin C. Lee of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, President Do-Young Noh) and Professor Junghee Lee from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has uncovered a new mechanism involving astrocytes for treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and proposed a novel therapeutic target.
In this study, the researchers revealed that autophagy pathway in astrocytes (non-neuronal cells in the brain) removes amyloid-beta (Aβ) oligomers, the toxic proteins found in the brains of AD patients and recovers memory and cognitive functions.
The research team scrutinized the autophagy process in astrocytes and discovered that when toxic protein buildup or inflammation occurs in the brains of AD patients, astrocytes respond by inducing genes that regulate autophagy. By delivering these autophagy-associated genes specifically into astrocytes in AD mouse models, the researchers observed the recovery of damaged neurons.
This study demonstrated that astrocytic autophagy reduces Aβ aggregates (protein clumps) and improves memory and cognitive functions. Notably, when autophagy-associated genes were expressed in astrocytes of the hippocampus, a brain region responsible for memory, the neuropathological symptoms were decreased. Most significantly, this study showed that the autophagy plasticity of astrocytes is involved in eliminating Aβ oligomers, a major cause of AD pathology, thus presenting a new potential therapeutic avenue for treating AD.
National Research Council of Science and Technology release on Newswise
