Principal neurons of the entorhinal cortex layer II assist with memory and navigation and are among the most vulnerable to Alzheimer’s. Researchers generated a line of mice for studying ECII neurons (highlighted using a green fluorescent protein). The neurons are at such high risk because they frequently remodel, making them prone to fatal dysfunctions, the researchers found. Credit: J.-P. Roussarie et al./Neuron 2020
Neurons that regularly remodel are more prone to Alzheimer’s disease and die when that remodeling goes awry, a new study suggests. The work is the first to track the progression of Alzheimer’s at the genetic and molecular levels within neurons vulnerable to the disease.
