On 4 February, an international group of researchers published analyses of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related brain region specific protein expression changes in the journal Communications Biology.
Although considered a growing field of interest for the development of disease modifying treatments, region-specific brain changes throughout progression of AD are still poorly modelled.
In order to gain new insights into how AD develops and to help find possible new targets for interventions, the authors looked at protein expression changes in six different brain regions, applying a series of spatial proteomics analyses using mass spectrometry.
The brain regions were selected based on their differences in being affected by the disease. They encompassed three heavily affected regions; hippocampus (HP), entorhinal cortex and cingulate gyrus, two lightly affected regions; sensory cortex and motor cortex as well as one relatively “spared” region, the cerebellum. Overall, the studied brain samples encompassed nine cases of AD and nine asymptomatic controls donated for research by patients at the New Zealand Brain Bank in Auckland.
In their publication, the team reported, that they identified a total of 128 protein changes, present in five out of the six studied brain areas. Based on evidence in the literature, the team concluded that at least 44 protein changes had previously not been associated with AD. Furthermore, the researchers reported, that they found a possible protective protein expression profile in the cerebellum. Data of this study is open access and can be freely used for further research: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6BXJQ
The article is available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-018-0254-9