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University of Md., Baltimore Researchers Create Chemical Decoy Believed to Trick Alzheimer's

Posted on: Monday, 21 March 2005, 21:00 CST

University of Maryland, Baltimore researchers have created a chemical decoy that shows promise in blocking a protein believed to be the main cause of Alzheimer's disease.

The compound, developed by a team of chemical engineers, has potential to trick the toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's and lure them out of the body's circulatory system before they clump together and kill brain cells.

Still in its very early stages - it has only been tested on cell samples - the compound could have an impact on the way the disease is treated and diagnosed.

In Alzheimer's, brain cells that process, store and retrieve information degenerate and die. A chronic, incurable form of dementia that causes severe memory loss and eventually death, the disease afflicts an estimated 4.5 million Americans, primarily elderly.

With millions more baby boomers set to turn 65, therefore at the age of greater risk, between 11 million and 16 million will have the disease by 2050, estimates the Alzheimer Association.

While there is no cure, much of the current research - including the University of Maryland compound - centers on the diagnosis and treatment of clumps of proteins, or plaques, largely composed of a toxic protein fragment called beta-amyloid.

When plaque formed by beta-amyloid tangles in the brain, it disrupts brain cells by clogging points of cell-to-cell communication, activating immune cells that ultimately kill cells.

Studies by University of Maryland researchers have found beta- amyloid tends to bind to sialic acids, sugars found in abundance on the brain's surface that are associated with cell activities like signaling and differentiation.

Using the research, an artificial compound was created that mimics the molecules found on the surface of brain cells. Researchers hope the molecule will lure the toxins out of circulation and stop them from binding to actual brain cells. The toxins can then be removed.

Tests thus far on human cells in the laboratory have been successful.

The advantage of the decoy model, researchers said in a released statement, is the molecule looks like the components of a normal brain. Therefore, the scientists say, they could be less likely to cause the side effects that have plagued other promising drug candidates.

Several drugs targeting beta-amyloid have reached clinical trials, but it is still not clear that the drugs can improve Alzheimer symptoms or protect brain cells, according to information published by the Alzheimer Association.

Some animal studies suggest the treatments can reduce the levels of the protein and improve memory in aging mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer-like symptoms.

One class of vaccines, for example, involves developing genetically engineered antibodies to beta-amyloid. In another approach, researchers are trying to stop the individual protein fragments from sticking together.

Likely candidates for drugs developed out of the University of Maryland compound would be people who have not yet developed signs of the disease but who may have an increased risk.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study, which included a researcher from Texas A&M University.

Source: The Daily Record (Baltimore)

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