Finding Opens New Research Methods For Treatment of Disease
Washington, D.C.—A protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered in the brain fluid of healthy mice, opening new methods of research for potential treatments, according to a report published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
The report reveals that the protein tau may be regularly produced in the brains of healthy mice and secreted into brain fluids. The findings of the report, authored by a team of researchers and led by the lab of Dr. David Holtzman, the Andrew and Gretchen Jones Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, challenges the previously-held belief that the protein never leaves the nerve cells living inside healthy brains.
Holtzman said the findings open the door to a host of new opportunities in treatment research, and that as a result of the discovery, additional funding has been pledged to further research the connection between the protein, Alzheimer’s and potential treatments.
“This initial funding really got this project off the ground,” Holtzman said. “Cure Alzheimer’s Fund acted as a great seed for this project.”
Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, a non-profit whose mission is to fund research with the highest probability of slowing, stopping or reversing Alzheimer’s disease, presented Holtzman’s lab with a $100,000 research grant in 2009 to support their advancements being made in Alzheimer’s research.
“We are thrilled that Dr. Holtzman’s team has made such significant advancements in the search for a cure for Alzheimer’s,” said Tim Armour, president of Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. “This only further supports our belief that continued funding of research will lead to a cure that could be realized within our lifetime.”
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About Washington University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
