A MAJOR
breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer’s could lead to a raft of new
treatments within years, scientists revealed today.
A major breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer’s could lead to new
treatments
In a world first, British
researchers have decoded the molecular structure of a toxic substance that is a
hallmark of the disease – which is a type of dementia And understanding how it
creates tangles in the brains of sufferers could see new drugs that prevent the
deadly process happening.
The finding was announced on
the same day experts warned of a timebomb facing Britain in all forms of
dementia.
But that figure is set to rise
dramatically to 872,000 in 2020, then 1,092,000 in 2030 and 1,205,000 in
2040.
As a result, there will be a
57 per cent rise in cases by 2040 compared with last year, researchers from
University College London and the University of Liverpool told the British
Medical Journal.
The cost of dementia to the UK
economy is estimated to be £26.3billion, equivalent to £32,250 for every person
in Britain.
And the number of people
living with the condition is continuing to increase, largely due to longer life
expectancy.
Dr James Pickett, head of research
at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “With an ageing population and no way to cure,
prevent or slow down the condition, dementia is set to be the 21st century’s
biggest killer.
“These latest estimates are
yet another wake-up call that the current social care system, already on its
knees from decades of under-funding, needs urgent attention from the Government
if it’s to cope with the inevitable massive increase in demand.
UK researchers have decoded the structure of a toxin that is a hallmark
of the disease
“Researchers must unite to
achieve breakthroughs in prevention, treatment and care before dementia becomes
an even larger health and social care crisis.”
However, the new medical
breakthrough hands hope to sufferers of Alzheimer’s. Researchers extracted
tissue samples from a patient who died of the disease and deciphered its
molecular structure.
Until now research has
depended on artificial samples. But experts have been able to see the make-up
of a destructive protein called tau, which forms tangles in the brains of
sufferers, in microscopic detail.
Drugs are currently dispensed
to treat the symptoms of dementia not the causes.
England and Wales will have over a million dementia suffers by 2030,
claims research
But the research has given
hope that prevention treatments could be developed.
Senior author Dr Michel
Goedert, of the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology,
said: “Until now the high-resolution structures of tau or any other
disease-causing filaments from human brain tissue have remained unknown.
“This new work will help to
develop better compounds for diagnosing and treating Alzheimer’s.”
Tau protein normally helps
brain cells function but in Alzheimer’s it clumps together.
These tangles then spread
through the brain as the symptoms of the harrowing disease progress.
But scientists in Cambridge
were able to deduce the atomic arrangement inside tau.
And now it is possible for
computer models to measure millions of potential drug molecules against the
protein, giving immediate clues to suggest which should be tested further,
significantly speeding up the drug discovery process.
Researcher Sjors Scheres said:
“Many pharmaceutical companies are currently using different parts of tau in
tests to measure the effect of different drugs on fi lament formation; this new
knowledge should significantly increase the accuracy of such tests.”
Dr Pickett, at the Alzheimer’s
Society, added: “Tau protein has never been seen in this level of detail
before. Many drugs work like a key in a lock, and this discovery shows us the
inner workings of the tau protein ‘lock’.
“The ability to picture what
the lock looks like could help scientists design more precise drugs that act on
the tau protein and stop damage to the brain. This study could take us into a
new era of drug design.”
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