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SENILE PLAQUES WERE CONFIRMED TO BE NOT THE CAUSE OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
6/2/2010


Kippo News from Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Osaka City University professors Takami Tomiyama and Hiroshi Mori and their colleagues confirmed in mice experiments that Alzheimer’s disease is caused simply when amyloid beta oligomers, small aggregates of a protein called amyloid beta, accumulate in the brain. The study was published in the U.S. scientific journal The Journal of Neuroscience (electronic edition).

It has been widely accepted that Alzheimer’s disease occurs and progresses due to accumulation of amyloid beta. However, opinions were divided as to whether the exact cause was senile plaques, large accumulations of amyloid beta that look like flecks, or amyloid beta oligomers.

The research team discovered in an Alzheimer’s patient a mutant-type amyloid beta that only forms amyloid beta oligomers. Subsequently, the researchers successfully created a mouse that has the mutant-type amyloid beta. Consequently, it was confirmed that Alzheimer’s disease occurs and progresses simply due to accumulation of amyloid beta oligomers. Accordingly, it was confirmed that senile plaques are not the cause of the disease. Osaka City University says it intends to engage in development of diagnostic techniques and therapeutic drugs targeting amyloid beta oligomers.


Contact：Department of Neuroscience Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka City University (site mostly in Japanese)
TEL：06-6645-3921



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