Cleveland Clinic: Network-based analyses uncover how neuroinflammation-causing microglia in Alzheimer's disease form
https://www.lerner.ccf.org/news/article/?title=Network-based+analyses+uncover+how+neuroinflammation-causing+microglia+in+Alzheimer%E2%80%99s+disease+form+&id=b4dfdde8f3bc0543fe513eb7df178347d463c57012/06/2024
Network-based analyses uncover how neuroinflammation-causing microglia in Alzheimers disease form
The study strengthens the connection between changes in microglia and Alzheimers disease and identifies drugs that may stop or reverse these changes.
Cleveland Clinic Genome Center researchers have unraveled how immune cells called microglia can transform and drive harmful processes like neuroinflammation in Alzheimers disease. The study, published in
Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of The Alzheimers Association, also integrates drug databases with real-world patient data to identify FDA-approved drugs that may be repurposed to target disease-associated microglia in Alzheimers disease without affecting the healthy type.
Microglia in Alzheimers disease
Microglia are specialized immune cells that patrol our brains, seeking and responding to tissue damage and external threats like bacteria and viruses. Different types of microglial cells use different methods to keep our brains safe. Some may cause neuroinflammation inflammation in our brains to fight invaders or kickstart the repair process in damaged cells. Others may work to eat dangerous substances in our brains, and clean up damage and debris.
An FDA-approved drug holds promise to treat harmful microglia in Alzheimers disease
The teams network-based analyses identified three unique subtypes of harmful microglia that promoted disease progression. Each of these subtypes had their own genetic signatures that drove unique behaviors to support Alzheimers disease. For example, one microglial subtype causes harmful neuroinflammation, while another supports the buildup of
proteins in our brains that cause Alzheimer's, like tau.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/alz.14373