New research surfaces Alzheimer’s treatment

Scientists at UMass Lowell have discovered a new contrivance by which a key protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease can spread within the human brain. According to the researchers, the finding gives new hope that the disease may someday be cured.

“My team has discovered two different ways in which tau is secreted by neurons, or brain cells. This might explain how tau-containing lesions seem to propagate between adjacent, interconnected parts of the brain during the development of the disease,” UMass Lowell biological sciences professor and study’s lead author Garth Hall said.

Until very recently, it was universally assumed that tau is never secreted from or transferred between neurons, and that CSF-tau only appears after many neurons have died and irreversible harm has been done to the brain.

The findings were published in the February issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.