Alzheimer's: study shows what can cause the death of neurons

O Alzheimer's disease It is one of the most common forms of dementia, but even with the disease's high incidence, science has not yet fully clarified its cause. One of the known points is that the loss of neurons may be one of the main factors in the development of the disease .

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the NorthwesternUniversity discovered a possible new cause for neuron degeneration in Alzheimer's disease. According to the authors, a mechanism present in RNA (ribonucleic acid) may be involved in the death of several cells, including neurons.

To arrive at this hypothesis, researchers analyzed brains from three different sources : mouse models with Alzheimer's disease, neurons derived from stem cells from people with and without the disease, and adults over 80 years old, but with memory capacity equivalent to individuals between 50 and 60 years old.

According to Marcus Peter, professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at NorthwesternUniversity and lead author of the study, each person has different classes of RNA in their cells: long messenger RNA (mRNA), which codes for important proteins for cell function and which has thousands of nucleotides, and short RNA, which has between 19 and 22 nucleotides. This second class of RNA works by suppressing mRNA activity, which results in blocking protein synthesis.

The researchers found that a kind of “code” embedded in short RNA with just six nucleotides could kill important cells .

“We call the short sequence 'death code' . Cells die because the RNAs that carry the code selectively suppress the mRNAs that code for proteins that are critical for the survival of all cells,” explained Marcus Peter to Medical News Today.

How the discovery could lead to a possible cause of Alzheimer's

Still according to the author of the study, the brain cells are protected by messenger RNA , especially when they are available in large quantities. However, with advancing age the amount of “Protective” RNA decreases, while “toxic” RNA increases .

This means that, the greater the amount of “toxic” RNA in the brain, the greater the risk for more cell deaths and, consequently, greater chance of developing Alzheimer's .

For the study authors, this discovery is important to pave the way for new research into the drug development to treat Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases.

For Marcus Peter, the next steps of the search include more tests on animals and neurons derived from patients with the disease in addition to testing medications that can increase the level of protective RNA or reduce the activity of “toxic” RNA.