— Early sign of Alzheimer's reversed in lab — One of the earliest known impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease - loss of sense of smell - can be restored by removing a plaque-forming protein in a mouse model of the disease,…
— Parental controls on embryonic development? — When a sperm fertilises an egg, each contributes a set of chromosomes to the resulting embryo, which at these very early stages is called a zygote. Early on, zygotic genes are inert,…
— Newly discovered heart stem cells make muscle and bone — Researchers have identified a new and relatively abundant pool of stem cells in the heart. The findings in the December issue of Cell Stem Cell, a Cell Press publication, show that…
— BUSM researchers develop blood test to detect membranous nephropathy — Research conducted by a pair of physicians at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston Medical Centre (BMC) has led to the development of a test that can help diagnose…
— New hip implants no better than traditional implants — New hip implants appear to have no advantage over traditional implants, suggests a review of the evidence published on bmj.com today…
— Action needed to improve men's health in Europe — Policies aimed specifically at men are urgently needed to improve the health of Europe's men, say experts on bmj.com today…
— Probiotics reduce infections for patients in intensive care — Traumatic brain injury is associated with a profound suppression of the patient's ability to fight infection. At the same time the patient also often suffers hyper-inflammation, due…
— High blood sugar levels in older women linked to colorectal cancer — Elevated blood sugar levels are associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.…
— Engineered botulism toxins could have broader role in medicine — The most poisonous substance on Earth - already used medically in small doses to treat certain nerve disorders and facial wrinkles - could be re-engineered for an expanded role in helping…
Protective role for copper in Alzheimer's disease
Two articles in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease by Dr Chris Exley, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry in the Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics at Keele University, UK, ('Copper abolishes the beta-sheet secondary structure of preformed amyloid fibrils of Abeta42') and Dr Zhao-Feng Jiang, of Beijing Union University, Beijing, China ('Coordinating to three histidine residues: Cu(II) promoting oligomeric, fibril amyloid beta peptide to aggregate in a non-beta-sheeted way') have confirmed a potentially protective role for copper in Alzheimer's Disease.
Previous research has shown that copper is one component of the amyloid beta plaques which are found in the brains of people of Alzheimer's disease.
A central tenet of the Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease is the aberrant deposition in the brain of Abeta42 in beta-sheets in neuritic or senile plaques. The Keele team have shown in previous research in JAD (House et al., (2004) JAD 6, 291-301) that copper (Cu(II)) prevents the deposition of Abeta42 in beta-sheets while in the current research they show that Cu(II) abolishes the beta-sheet structure of preformed amyloid fibrils of Abeta42. A similar finding was made by the group of Jiang for the other form of beta amyloid, Abeta40, and together these observations strongly suggest that copper prevents both the formation and the accumulation of plaques in the brain.
Coincident with the copper-catalysed dissolution of beta-sheets of Abeta42, Exley's group made the first observation of the in vitro formation of spherulites of this peptide. These spherical globules of amyloid have only previously been observed in vitro for the other amyloid-forming proteins insulin and beta-lactoglobulin. Copper appeared to have a role in the formation of spherulites of Abeta42 and this will be investigated in future research. The role of metals in the formation, deposition and metabolism of Abeta in Alzheimer's disease is much debated and these new findings highlight a potential protective role for copper in Alzheimer's disease.
Or subscribe for our Newsletter, a free e-mail publication. It is published practically every day.
Discovery of cellular 'switch' may provide new means of triggering cell death, treating disease
A new type of stem cells found in prostate may be involved in cancer
Study reveals new genetic culprit in deadly skin cancer
New technique could eliminate inherited mitochondrial disease