A new study in mice suggests that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may be triggered when adult neurons try to divide. The finding helps researchers understand what goes wrong in the disease and may lead to new ways of treating it.
For unknown reasons, nerve cells (neurons) affected by AD and many other neurodegenerative diseases often start to divide before they die.
The new study shows that, in animal models of AD, this abnormal cell division starts long before amyloid plaques or other other markers of the disease appear. Cell division occurs through a process called the cell cycle.
“If you could stop cell cycling, you might be able to stop neurons from dying prematurely. This could be a fresh approach to therapy for Alzheimer’s and other diseases, including stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease], and HIV dementia,” says Karl Herrup, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who led the study.