Novel target shows promise in treating Alzheimer’s and related dementias

Forget me not: Novel target shows promise in treating Alzheimer's and related dementias
The cytotoxic tau isomer (cis P-tau; red) is partially colocalized with tau oligomers (green; top) and tau tangles (green; bottom) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mixed AD and VCID brains, but was detected in the absence of other tau isoforms in VCID brains. Credit: Image provided by Dr. Onder Albayram of the Medical University of South Carolina.

Researchers remain perplexed as to what causes dementia and how to treat and reverse the cognitive decline seen in patients. In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Harvard Medical School discovered that cis P-tau, a toxic, non-degradable version of a healthy brain protein, is an early marker of vascular dementia (VaD) and Alzheimer’s disease…

Read more…