Researchers have made an important discovery that may lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.
EpHB2 is a protein responsible for regulating nerve signals in the brain. It also helps with establishing and maintaining memory. Researchers from the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease in San Francisco studied how increasing levels of this protein in the brain would impact people suffering with various forms of dementia.
Some Alzheimer’s and forms of dementia exhibited characteristics where EphB2 was found in low quantities. It was thought that by increasing levels of this protein artificially, the effects of Alzheimer’s could be reversed, thus leading to a potential cure for this brain disease.
In testing their hypothesis, researchers bred mice with conditions similar to Alzheimer’s disease. When given higher levels of EphB2 proteins, the memory losses in these mice were eliminated.
The researchers have indicated a key to finding a cure for Alzheimer’s may rest in preventing amyloid proteins from binding to EphB2 and by enhancing the levels of EphB2 in the brain. This may lead to new treatment options for Alzheimer’s Disease and to an eventual cure for Alzheimer’s.
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s Disease.
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