Interleukin vs. Alzheimer's
A molecule capable of making dementia completely curable has been discovered
Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+
Scientists have discovered that a certain signaling molecule can reprogram immune responses in the brain and thereby stop neurodegeneration. Their strategy has the potential to "clean up" the already developing signs of the disease and cure a person.
Article by McAlpine et al. Astrocytic interleukin-3 programs microglia and limits Alzheimer's disease published in the journal Nature – VM.
Cognitive decline in dementia occurs against the background of mass death of neurons, which can be caused by an erroneous immune response and neuroinflammation. The mass death of neurons activates astrocytes and microglia in an attempt to protect the brain due to inflammation. The fact is that at critical moments for the body, they are aimed at destroying areas of the brain where neuronal death is observed. For example, such a function is very important for survival during infection, but in the case of neurodegeneration, everything is somewhat different.
Although neurodegeneration has a large number of accumulations of proteins – toxic plaques – in the brain, without neuroinflammation, a person may not experience symptoms of dementia at all.
There are many cases when a large number of plaques were detected in the brain of a deceased person, but during his lifetime he did not have characteristic signs of the disease. This is due to the fact that neuroinflammation was minimal or absent at all.
A team of researchers from Harvard studied this process in detail and found that some astrocytes are trying to "put out the fire" and release the signaling molecule interleukin-3 (IL-3) for these purposes. As a result of their work, it is possible to pacify microglia, which returns to its usual function of feeding and protecting neurons from accumulations of toxic proteins.
"Understanding that astrocytes interact with microglia using IL-3 has important clinical implications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease," commented co–author Philip Swirsky. Managing IL-3 can stop or even reverse the development of the disease, he added.
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