Causative Alzheimer's disease factor found

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 15, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Scientists at San Francisco's Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease say they have discovered a causative factor for Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers say a mutant form of the protein apolipoprotein E, also known as apoE, pinpoints mitochondria as a key site that specific fragments of a particular form of apoE attack. That leads to neuronal death characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

Lead investigator Dr. Yadong Huang said scientists had been unable to determine if the mutant protein actually interferes with the ability of neurons to make use of glucose in the brain, but they theorized such an inability to access glucose might kill crucial brain cells, causing AD symptoms.

"Several years ago, we found apoE is subject to cleavage that results in fragments that are toxic to neurons," said Huang, an assistant professor of pathology and neurology at the University of California-San Francisco. "This study shows which parts of apoE are toxic and gives hints as to the site of its action."

The findings appear online at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, and in advance of print publication in the Dec. 20 issue of PNAS.

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