A sequence of stress signals among specialized clean-up cells in the brain could at last reveal why some immune responses can cause significant nerve degeneration that results in the loss of memory, judgement, and awareness behind Alzheimer’s disease.
Blocking this pathway in mouse brains modeled on Alzheimer’s prevented damage to their synapse connections and reduced the buildup of potentially toxic tau proteins – both hallmarks of the condition.
The researchers, led by a team from the City University of New York (CUNY), believe this pathway – called the integrated stress response (ISR) – causes brain immune cells called microglia to go ‘dark’ and start damaging rather than benefiting the brain.
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