SINGAPORE - A team of 12 researchers from Nanyang Technological University has shed light on how immune cells in the brain produce energy to clear toxic waste which would otherwise build up to cause Alzheimer’s disease.
One key indicator of the disease is the build-up of protein plaques between nerve cells in the brain. In mice with Alzheimer’s disease that had the protein genetically removed, the microglia could not produce enough energy to clear the toxic waste, resulting in the disease worsening. But this method was found to be inefficient and prevented the microglia from clearing the waste effectively. The researchers also discovered that this second method was activated when microglia cells were exposed to more toxic forms of brain waste, just as it happens in Alzheimer’s disease.
To “switch on and off” this sticking ability easily, the scientists genetically modified microglia cells extracted from mice so that when blue light was shone on them, the hexokinase-2’s sticking ability was turned off.
Great to see Singapore's NTU continuing to research this difficult disease. auspol nitv
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