Gene therapy ‘memory boost hope’

29.11.2010 [13:48]
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Baku, November 29 (AZERTAC). A gene therapy technique which aims to ease memory problems linked to Alzheimer`s Disease has been successfully tested in mice.

US scientists used it to increase levels of a chemical which helps brain cells signal to each other.

This signaling is hindered in Alzheimer`s Disease, the journal Nature reported.

The Alzheimer`s Research Trust said the study suggested a way to keep nerve cells in the brain communicating,

Ageing populations in many countries around the world mean that Alzheimer`s disease and other forms of dementia are set to increase.

Researchers at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco believe that boosting the brain chemical, a neurotransmitter called EphB2, could help reduce or even prevent some of the worst effects of the condition.

Their research suggests that the chemical plays an important role in memory, and is depleted in Alzheimer`s patients.

One of the most noticeable features about the brains of Alzheimer`s patients is the build-up of "plaques" of a toxic protein called amyloid. Over time this leads to the death of brain cells.

Gene therapy ‘memory boost hope’

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