Begone 2020: Despite COVID, Alzheimer’s Research Advanced
Confronting unprecedented challenges this past year, scientists found ways to tide their research over and keep clinical trials mostly on track.
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Biomarkers of Errant Endosome Spotted in Cerebrospinal Fluid
In mice, forebrain neurons with hobbled retromers ooze fragments of tau and several BACE1 substrates into the CSF. Similar proteins are up in CSF from people with MCI and Alzheimer’s disease.
Individualized Tau PET Model Outperforms Predictive Power of Braak Staging
By pinpointing where tau pathology starts in a person’s brain, researchers better predicted future spread and determined small changes in tangle load.
Plasma Aβ Test Wins Approval—Are p-Tau Tests Far Behind?
Regulators in the U.S. and Europe have certified a mass-spectrometry-based blood test for amyloid-β. Plasma phospho-tau markers are poised to come next.
No Skin Off Your Nose: New Way to Diagnosing Parkinson’s?
Two papers report that skin samples from people with Parkinson’s disease contain α-synuclein seeds that can be robustly amplified, paving the way for a reliable test for the disease.
Klotho VS Variant Preserves Memory by Preventing Tangles
Carriers accumulate fewer tangles than noncarriers for a given amount of amyloid, explaining how the gene variant may lower a person’s Alzheimer’s risk.
Seeing into the Human Synapse: New Tools Illuminate Alzheimer’s Hot Spot
New synaptic profiling and imaging techniques are enabling scientists to zero in on synaptic proteins, including phospho-tau, that make the difference between clinical Alzheimer’s and resilience.
IDEAS Finds Small Drop in Hospitalizations, Missing Goal
A slight drop in hospital admissions after amyloid PET, especially in people with positive scans, fell well short of the prespecified endpoint. Still, IDEAS is broadening into a research platform, and IDEAS 2 will add racial diversity.
Plasma p-Tau217 Set to Transform Alzheimer’s Diagnostics
This early marker distinguishes Alzheimer’s from controls and other neurodegenerative diseases more accurately than other biomarkers.
PET Tracer PI-2620 Detects 4R Tau Deposits
The tracer distinguished people with progressive supranuclear palsy from controls with a sensitivity of 85 percent, suggesting potential as a diagnostic for 4R tauopathies.
Simulating Tangle Spread Along Axons, Scientists Predict Tau PET Patterns
The modeling approach reinforces the idea that tau pathology propagates through the brain’s physical architecture, including neuronal networks.
In Colombian Alzheimer’s Kindred, Blood NfL Climbs 22 Years Before Symptoms
The plasma biomarker neurofilament light was able to distinguish individual mutation carriers from noncarriers three years prior to onset.
Could Tau PET Replace Amyloid Biomarkers as a Diagnostic for AD?
A large, cross-sectional study finds that RO-948 PET discriminates AD dementia from other disorders more accurately than do CSF biomarkers or MRI.
Does Alzheimer’s Start in the Heart of the Cholinergic System?
In people with Alzheimer’s biomarkers, the basal forebrain shrinks early, foreshadowing microglial neurotoxicity, atrophy in the medial temporal lobe, and cognitive decline.
Confused About the DIAN-TU Trial Data? Experts Discuss
The AAT-AD/PD conference hosted a virtual conversation about what the trial’s disappointing cognitive and tantalizing biomarker data might mean. Hidden between thank you’s and pledges to stay committed were substantive points of debate and context.
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