Genetic insight into Alzheimer`s disease

Researchers identified two more gene mutations that increase a person`s risk to develop Alzheimer`s disease. They say that their discoveries from their studies on mice may help in preventing and treating this disease in humans. The rare mutations occur in a gene called ADAM10 and are linked to the common form of Alzheimer's that strikes after age 60. This is the second gene confirmed to play a role in late-onset Alzheimer's and the fifth gene overall linked to the disease, according to the Massachusetts General Hospital researchers. The mutations also reduce creation of new nerve-related cells in the hippocampus, a part of the brain essential to learning and memory. This study is published in the journal Neuron. “This is the first report to document, in animal models, new [disease-causing] gene mutations for Alzheimer's since the reports of the original four genes in the 1990s”, study senior author Rudolph Tanzi, director of the genetics and aging unit at the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, said in a hospital news release. “What we found regarding the many effects of these two rare mutations in ADAM10 strongly suggests that diminished activity of this enzyme can cause [Alzheimer's disease], and these findings support ADAM10 as a promising therapeutic target for both treatment and prevention”, he said.