A new study from researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital has made important progress in understanding the genetics behind Alzheimer’s disease.
Published in The American Journal of Human Genetics, the study focuses on finding genes that either increase a person’s risk for Alzheimer’s or help protect them from getting it. The goal is to eventually use this information to develop better treatments or even prevent the disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and affects more than 50 million people worldwide. It slowly damages the brain, leading to memory loss, changes in thinking, and problems with everyday activities.
Despite many years of research, scientists still don’t fully understand what causes it. So far, there is no cure, and existing treatments can only slow down symptoms for a short time.
Over the years, researchers have found hundreds of genes that may be linked to Alzheimer’s, thanks to large genetic studies. But finding out which genes actually cause problems in the brain—and which ones don’t do much at all—has been difficult. This study aimed to narrow down that list and identify the genes that truly matter.
To do this, the research team used a two-part strategy. First, they looked at results from earlier genetic studies and ran computer analyses to predict which genes might be involved in the disease. Then, they went to the lab to test those predictions. They used fruit flies as a model because flies share many important genes with humans and are useful for studying brain diseases.
The researchers changed the activity of certain genes in the flies and watched how this affected their movement and brain function. Problems with movement in flies are often a sign of nervous system damage, just like in people with Alzheimer’s.
The scientists studied 60 genes in the fruit flies that they believed might play a role in Alzheimer’s. Out of those, 46 genes showed clear effects on brain health. Eighteen of them were linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s in humans.
But the most exciting part was that changing the activity of 11 of these genes protected the flies’ brains. This suggests that these genes could be possible targets for future treatments.
One gene stood out the most: MTCH2. This gene was found to be less active in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. When the researchers reduced the activity of MTCH2 in flies, their movement problems got worse.
But when they increased MTCH2 activity again, the flies moved better and had fewer signs of brain damage. Even more promising, adding MTCH2 back to human nerve cells in the lab reduced the buildup of a harmful protein called tau, which is often found in Alzheimer’s brains.
This discovery is important because it points to a new possible target for treatment. If scientists can find a safe way to boost MTCH2 activity in the human brain, it may help protect against the damage caused by Alzheimer’s.
The study also shows how powerful it can be to combine computer predictions with lab experiments to find the genes that really matter in complex diseases like this one.
In summary, this study helps us better understand which genes contribute to Alzheimer’s and which ones might protect the brain. MTCH2 appears to be one of the most important genes discovered so far.
While there is still a long way to go before this leads to a cure, the findings give researchers a stronger direction to explore. With continued work, this research could bring new hope to millions of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
If you care about Alzheimer’s, please read studies about the likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease, and new non-drug treatment that could help prevent Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about diet that may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and results showing some dementia cases could be prevented by changing these 12 things.
The research findings can be found in The American Journal of Human Genetics.
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