New Alzheimer's Gene Uncovered

Ivanhoe Newswire
Friday, June 8, 2007; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Sophisticated new technology is allowing researchers to peer ever deeper into the genetic code, and now they've come up with another gene that may predispose people to developing Alzheimer's disease.

Using a large database based on brains donated by people with and without the mind-robbing condition, along with the new gene hunting technology, investigators located a gene called GAB2. In its healthy form, GAB2 may protect the brain from developing the tangles characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. But in its unhealthy form, it may actually promote the development of these tangles.

"We hope that this study, along with the genome-wide genetics studies to come, will contribute to the clarification of Alzheimer's risk factors and disease mechanisms, the discovery of promising new disease-slowing and prevention therapies, and the identification of patients and at-risk people most likely to benefit from those treatments," study author Eric Reiman, M.D., from the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, was quoted as saying.

The brain database will now be made available to other researchers, who should be able to use it as did these investigators -- to quickly and easily look for other genes that could be playing a role in the debilitating condition.

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SOURCE: Neuron, published online June 6, 2007