An innovative laboratory culture system has succeeded, for the first time, in reproducing the full course of events underlying the development of Alzheimer's disease. Using the system they developed, investigators from the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) now provide the first clear evidence supporting the hypothesis that deposition of beta-amyloid plaques in the brain is the first step in a cascade leading to the devastating neurodegenerative disease. They also identify the essential role in that process of an enzyme, inhibition of which could be a therapeutic target.
↧
