Researchers have found out new information about how neuro degenerative diseases develop and how the process can be possibly slowed.
Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories of National Institutes of Health have found novel insights into how abnormal prion proteins work.Researchers have observed genetically engineered mice producing prion protein without a glycophosphoinositol (GPI) cell membrane anchor that did not show the symptoms of scrapie disease when inoculated with scrapie prion protein. These mice had developed plaques in their brain, similar to those that are observed in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. However, the plaque formations in the mice were non-toxic and the mice also had no symptoms of the disease.
The research brings new light into Alzheimer’s disease, as Alzheimer’s treatment is concentrated on removing the plaques that form in the brain. Researchers feel that their study raises the question regarding the toxicity of the plaques in the Alzheimer’s’ disease, what if they are non toxic and therefore harmless?
If more research establishes the doubts raised by the current research then this could change the views scientists have held on prion protein diseases.
