Israel : HU scientists discover how mutated gene speeds Alzheimer's

A Hebrew University of Jerusalem study that found why Alzheimer's develops more rapidly among people who carry a specific mutated gene - a gene which appears in a fifth of Americans and Israelis - is arousing much interest among dementia scientists, as it offers a promising approach to help treat the disease.

Researchers at HU's Silberman Institute of Life Sciences finally solved a mystery about the BChE-K gene and published their findings in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, which featured it on the cover and selected it as its "Paper of the Week."

In theory, the carriers of the mutated gene should actually be more protected from the devastating effects of the disease than those with a normal gene because the altered protein the normal one produces breaks down the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at a slower rate than in those who have the normal version. The result is that the carriers maintain higher levels of this neurotransmitter, so they should theoretically be protected from Alzheimer's, in which acetylcholinelevels decrease.
Lire l'intégralité de l'article » (Source: article par Judy Siegel-Itzkovich @ JPost)