Presenilin
Early Arrival
07/11/12 13:27 Filed in: GenomeWeb Daily Scan
In Lancet Neurology, a team of researchers reported a high prevelance of mutations in the presenilin 1, or PSEN1, gene linked to Alzheimer's that were apparent in 20 of 44 young adults from Colombia at least 20 years before the onset of symptoms. Apart from differences in brain structure and function between the two groups, the researchers also detected increased cerebrospinal fluid levels of amyloid beta. S. Pelech notes that in many clinical studies with Alzheimer's patients, there is actually usually a DECREASE in the level of the pathogenic 42 kDa beta-amyloid (A-beta42) protein in their CSF relative to healthy controls and patients with Parkinson's disease and progressive supra nuclear palsy. He further describes research at Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation using antibody microarrays that uncovered 36 proteins that displayed abnormal phosphorylation or expression in peripheral blood lymphocytes from Alzheimer's patients as compared to controls that were only mildly cognitively impaired or had other neurological disorders. Read More...