Saturday, June 26, 2010

Possible Advance in Alzheimer’s research

Here's a development that will be of interest to all my readers. On June 17, 2009, I wrote about the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation. This organization just announced a significant new advance in Alzheimer’s research. In 2008, researchers at the Fisher Center laboratory developed a technology by which they could determine the protein composition of each individual nerve cell type in the brain, called TRAP. They are now using this technology to analyze the differences in protein composition between those nerve cells which die in Alzheimer's disease (vulnerable nerve cells) and those nerve cells which do not die (resistant nerve cells). This knowledge will enable their scientists to take genes from vulnerable cells, inject these genes into resistant cells causing their death, and thereby prove that these genes cause cells to be vulnerable and die in Alzheimer's disease. They are preparing to search for inhibitors of the disease-causing genes that they are currently in the process of identifying. These inhibitors are expected to be highly effective in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. You can learn more about the Fisher Center and its Alzheimer's research at http://www.alzinfo.org/

Bob Tell
Author
Dementia Diary, A Caregiver's Journal
http://dementia-diary.com