New key factor identified in the development of Alzheimer's disease

"In the study, using the cells from individuals with Down syndrome that are genetically predisposed to developing Alzheimer's disease, we showed that elevated levels of βCTF, independent of Aβ, cause a specific pattern of endosome defects with similar pathology of brain cells in Alzheimer's disease," said Ying Jiang, PhD, lead author and clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center. "Our research was successfully able to pinpoint that βCTF causes Alzheimer's disease -related endosome defects and that we could successfully reverse these endosome defects by lowering βCTF levels in the cells."

Endosomes are membrane compartments in cells that support cell survival by absorbing outside nutrients and are crucial in neuronal functions. In Alzheimer's disease, endosome abnormalities are the earliest neuropathologic features to develop, appearing even earlier in cases where one of several major genetic risk factors for the disease in inherited. Endosomes are also suspected sites of Aβ production in the cells.

"In the field of Alzheimer's research, we have been questioning whether Aβ is the only target to better understand the progression of Alzheimer's disease and if lowering Aβ is the only hoped-for therapy," said Ralph Nixon, MD, PhD, professor, psychiatry and cell biology, director, NYU Center of Excellence on Brain Aging and the Silberstein Alzheimer's Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. "This study demonstrates that an alternative protein factor, βCTF, derived from the gene APP, is also unequivocally involved in Alzheimer's disease and may be of additional importance for the development of future effective therapies."

Funding for this study was made possible through the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) The study was done in collaboration with NYU Langone Medical Center (NY, New York), the Center for Dementia Research at the Nathan Kline Institute (Orangeburg, NY); Mailman Research Center at McLean Hospital (Belmont, MA); Departments of Psychiatry and Neuropathology at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA).