Biology rarely re-invents the wheel. That is why proponents of the idea that presenilin (PS) and the proteolytic γ-secretases are one and the same will be pleased with a paper in tomorrow's Science by Bruno Martoglio and colleagues...
An ambitious attempt to link cognitive tests, functional brain imaging, and cell biological assays implicates a polymorphism in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as the source for highly specific memory deficits...
An article in the February 24 Nature Neuroscience online suggests that amyloid-β (Aβ), the peptide responsible for the intercellular plaques that appear in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, can freely diffuse through neural tissue, and that it plays a major role in the pathogenesis of the disease...
Amyloid plaques and tau tangles sprout in human neuron cultures grown in a supportive gel. Researchers think this system may closely model human disease and aid in drug discovery.
Mice expressing presenilin harboring AD-associated mutations resemble mice lacking the enzyme altogether, suggesting that the mutations fully inactivate the enzyme.
Eli Lilly has given up on regulatory submission for mild AD, but leaves door open to seeking approval for earlier disease stages if three ongoing studies succeed.