( A new drug that enhances the activity o...)Experimental drug reverses key cognitive deficits, pathology in Alzheimer's

A new drug that enhances the activity of a key brain cell receptor involved in Alzheimer's disease (AD) reverses learning and memory deficits in mice engineered to have pathological hallmarks of the disease. What's more, the drug, called AF267B, reduces both of the pathologies--the brain-clogging buildup of protein "amyloid plaque" outside brain cells and the protein "neurofibrillary tangles" inside the cells.

In an article in the March 2, 2006, issue of Neuron, Dr. Frank LaFerla of the University of California, Irvine and his colleagues reported the first in vivo studies of the drug's effects. AF267B was developed by coauthor Abraham Fisher to activate particular receptors for the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. These specific receptors, called M1 receptors, are abundant in areas of the brain--the cortex and hippocampus--known to develop severe deposits of plaques and tangles in AD patients. Dysfunction in acetylcholine receptors has been shown to be characteristic of early stages of AD.

Receptors are proteins on the neuronal surface that are triggered by the chemical signals called neurotransmitters. This triggering initiates such cellular responses as the wave of electrical excitation of a nerve impulse.

As an animal model of AD, the researchers used a "triple knockout" mouse in which three key genes involved in normal brain protein processing pathways had been knocked out, creating both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.

In their experiments, the researchers gave the knockout mice eight weeks of daily doses of AF267B and tested the animals' learning and memory abilities. One test involved measuring how well the treated animals could learn to find a submerged platform in a tank of murky water. This test is known to depend on the function of the hippocampus. The researchers found that the treated mice performed significantly better than untreated knockout mice on the task.

Significantly, found the researchers, the
'"/>

Source:Cell Press

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. NIAID Initiates Trial of Experimental Avian Flu Vaccine
2. Experimental shingles vaccine proves effective in nationwide study
3. Experimental vaccine protects nonhuman primates when given after exposure to Marburg virus
4. Experimental TB drug effective against resistant and latent mycobacterium tuberculosis
5. Experimental RNA-based drug kills prostate cancer cells effectively and safely
6. Experimental vaccine protects lab animals against several strains of H5N1
7. Experimental vaccine protects mice against deadly 1918 flu virus
8. Experimental cancer drugs counter muscle deterioration seen in muscular dystrophy
9. Experimental vaccine given during pregnancy reduces stillbirths from common virus
10. Muscle-targeted gene therapy reverses rare muscular dystrophy in mice
11. Genetic therapy reverses nervous system damage in animal model of inherited human disease