This is how an Alzheimer's gene ravages the brain
Elie Dolgin • November 16, 2022
Study in cells and mice suggests that the variant APOE4 affects the all-important insulation around nerve cells.
No gene variant is a bigger risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease than one called APOE4. But exactly how the gene spurs brain damage has been a mystery.
A study has now linked APOE4 with faulty cholesterol processing in the brain, which in turn leads to defects in the insulating sheaths that surround nerve fibres and facilitate their electrical activity.
Preliminary results hint that these changes could cause memory and learning deficits. And the work suggests that drugs that restore the brain’s cholesterol processing could treat the disease.
Continue reading at Nature.
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