Dementia such as Alzheimer's disease is thought to be one of the causes of protein accumulation in the brain, but the mechanism by which this protein causes inflammation was elucidated by experiments using mice, according to Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The research group announced.
It is expected to lead to treatment in the future.
Two types of proteins called "amyloid beta" and "tau" are accumulated in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, and a research group at Tokyo Medical and Dental University found that "tau" causes brain inflammation. I investigated the mechanism that causes it in an experiment using mice.
When "tau" is injected into the mouse brain, inflammation occurs and cognitive function deteriorates, but "tau" enters the cells that play the role of immunity in the brain and is called "PQBP1". It was found that the binding of these proteins causes inflammation.
Furthermore, in mice in which "PQBP1" was prevented from appearing by using a drug, inflammation did not occur even when "tau" was injected, and the mice remembered the passage once passed in the experiment using the maze. Cognitive function was no different from normal.
Professor Hitoshi Okazawa of Tokyo Medical and Dental University said, "If we can suppress the inflammatory reaction in the brain even in humans by utilizing the mechanism elucidated this time, we can expect that it will lead to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease in the future." increase.