Amyloid Plaque News and Research

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Scientists identify critical regulator of molecule involved in progression of Alzheimer’s disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a critical regulator of a molecule deeply involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

23 Jan 2014

Study: Cholesterol levels linked to early signs of Alzheimer's disease in the brain

High levels of "good" cholesterol and low levels of "bad" cholesterol are correlated with lower levels of the amyloid plaque deposition in the brain that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, in a pattern that mirrors the relationship between good and bad cholesterol in cardiovascular disease, UC Davis researchers have found.

30 Dec 2013

Study: Brain blood vessel cells may be therapeutic targets for Alzheimer's disease

A study in mice shows how a breakdown of the brain's blood vessels may amplify or cause problems associated with Alzheimer's disease. The results published in Nature Communications suggest that blood vessel cells called pericytes may provide novel targets for treatments and diagnoses.

14 Dec 2013

Merck provides update on MK-8931 investigational oral therapy for Alzheimer’s disease

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today provided an update on the development program for MK-8931, a novel investigational oral β-amyloid precursor protein site-cleaving enzyme (BACE) inhibitor.

11 Dec 2013

Immunologists receive $4.8M grant to target multiple diseases by manipulating enzyme

Immunologists Barbara A. Osborne and Lisa M. Minter at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as part of a multi-institution research team, will share a five-year, $4.8 million National Cancer Institute grant to target multiple diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) by manipulating an enzyme that activates over 100 different protein substrates in the body.

10 Dec 2013

Scientists receive 2013 Horwitz Prize for discoveries on how brain calculates location, navigation

Edvard and May-Britt Moser of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and John O'Keefe, from University College London have been awarded the 2013 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for discoveries that have illuminated how the brain calculates location and navigation.

9 Dec 2013

Scientists receive 2013 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for advancements in field of neuroscience

For discoveries about how the brain calculates and remembers where it is—which could be part of the foundation of memory—Columbia University will award the 2013 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize to Edvard I. Moser, PhD, and May-Britt Moser, PhD, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Norway, and John Michael O'Keefe, PhD, of University College London in the UK.

6 Dec 2013

International researchers report significant findings on vascular abnormality outside the brain

Studies on Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia have long focused on what's happening inside the brain. Now an international research team studying Alzheimer's and mild cognitive impairment is reporting potentially significant findings on a vascular abnormality outside the brain.

27 Nov 2013

Elderly people with hardening of arteries are more likely to have beta-amyloid plaques in brain

Even for elderly people with no signs of dementia, those with hardening of the arteries are more likely to also have the beta-amyloid plaques in the brain that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study published in the October 16, 2013, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

17 Oct 2013

Epigenetic regulation linked with pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease

New evidence presented at the 26th ECNP Congress linking epigenetic regulation with Alzheimer's disease may one day lead to new early diagnostic tests and even novel treatment options for the most common form of dementia.

7 Oct 2013

Neurodyn acquires all assets related to new drug candidate Memogain from Galantos Pharma

Neurodyn Inc. announced today that it has acquired from Galantos Pharma GmbH, Mainz, Germany all assets related to their Alzheimer's prescription drug candidate - Memogain. Memogain has completed an extensive preclinical development program and is ready to proceed into Phase 1 clinical trials in late 2013. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

5 Sep 2013

Alzheimer’s drug trial: an interview with Geoffrey Kempler, Chairman & CEO Prana Biotechnology

Approval for the IMAGINE trial was granted by the Austin Health Research Ethics Committee in November 2011, with the first patients dosed in March the following year. However, well before the trial was approved, PBT2 had already shown promise in significantly changing Abeta levels in spinal fluid while improving cognition in a previous 12-week trial conducted in 2006.

28 Aug 2013

Results of post-mortem brain tissue study using Navidea's NAV4694 imaging agent presented at AAIC 2013

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on precision diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, today announced that researchers at McGill Center for Studies in Aging, Douglas Research Institute and Montreal Neurological Institute presented results of a post-mortem brain tissue study using Navidea's investigational Fluorine-18 labeled β-amyloid imaging agent, NAV4694, during the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Boston, MA.

23 Jul 2013

Accumulation of plaques in brain may serve as powerful biomarker for early detection of cognitive decline

The trajectory of amyloid plaque buildup-clumps of abnormal proteins in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease-may serve as a more powerful biomarker for early detection of cognitive decline rather than using the total amount to gauge risk, researchers from Penn Medicine's Department of Radiology suggest in a new study published online July 15 in Neurobiology of Aging.

16 Jul 2013

Hypometabolism in brain regions of cognitively normal patients associated with Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease has been linked in many studies to amyloid plaque buildup in the brain, but new research is finding a common thread between amyloid burden and lower energy levels, or metabolism, of neurons in certain areas of the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease-even for people with no sign of cognitive decline.

12 Jun 2013

Scientists reexamine gene strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease

Scientists' picture of how a gene strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease harms the brain may have to be revised, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. People with harmful forms of the APOE gene have up to 12 times the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared with those who have other variations of the gene.

8 May 2013

Studies, search for genetic risk factors needed to predict individual's risk for traumatic brain injury

One of the most controversial topics in neurology today is the prevalence of serious permanent brain damage after traumatic brain injury. Long-term studies and a search for genetic risk factors are required in order to predict an individual's risk for serious permanent brain damage, according to a review article published by Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in a special issue of Nature Reviews Neurology dedicated to TBI.

6 Apr 2013

Navidea commences enrollment in NAV4694 Phase 2b study to detect erebral β-amyloid plaque

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on precision diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, today announced that enrollment has commenced in its Phase 2b, open-label, safety and efficacy positron emission tomography imaging study of [18F]NAV4694 for detection of cerebral β-amyloid plaque in subjects diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

28 Mar 2013

Researchers reprogramming skin cells into brain cells to understand Alzheimer's disease

Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is leading an international team of researchers working to reprogram skin cells into brain cells to gain a better understanding of Alzheimer's disease.