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ITALIAN TEAM IDENTIFIES a protein responsible for Alzheimer's

is the Italian team that has scored a major coup against Alzheimer's disease: the discovery of a protein that would have a key role in memory loss typical of the disease.
were scholars Telethon, led by Professor Francesco Cecconi, to carry out the important scoperta, dopo una serie di esperimenti in laboratorio.
In particolare gli scienziati si sono concentrati su una rara forma ereditaria della malattia che si manifesta precocemente rispetto all’affezione più comune. Nonostante questa divergenza tra le due forme patologiche, il processo degenerativo che subisce il malato è lo stesso: un progressivo decadimento delle cellule del cervello che porta a una graduale scomparsa di memoria, linguaggio, percezione e cognizione spaziale.
«Siamo partiti dall’osservazione che con il progredire della malattia di Alzheimer i neuroni perdono progressivamente il contatto tra loro, essenziale per la trasmissione dei segnali nervosi», afferma Marcello D’Amelio, ricercatore dell’Università Campus Bio-Medico of Rome and first author of the work, then as explained in the first stage of the disease occurs in a loss of synapses, the ramifications of the nerve cell that enable communication with surrounding cells. It is precisely the lack of dialogue between neurons that leads gradually to the memory deficits typical of Alzheimer's. "What was not known, though," the researcher concluded, "were the molecular mechanisms behind this phenomenon."
is a specific protein, capsasi-3, to be particularly active at this time. According to scholars it is she playing a key role in the loss of synaptic spines, the connections of neurons in the brain area responsible for the memory. "This is confirmed by the fact that, treated with a drug that inhibits the activity of the protein," says Cecconi, "the mice with the disease show a very significant improvement in behavior."
The discovery not only help in the search for appropriate therapies drug - research that is unfortunately still a long way - but also, and above all, facilitate the early diagnosis of the disease. For Cecconi, in fact, the fact that you have tests which can diagnose early and with some specific diseases such as Alzheimer's, could change the history of this disease.
The research was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Source: www.buonenotizie.it