Loss of Gene Activity Linked to Development of AD

A team of Canadian neurodegenerative disease researchers has identified a gene and its protein product that appear to be linked to the development of late-onset sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent form of dementia.

Investigators at Université de Montréal (Canada) had discovered several years ago that mutations of the BMI1 (B lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 homolog) gene in mice triggered accelerated and pathological aging of the brain and eyes.

In a recent study, which was published in the May 29, 2018, issue of the journal Cell Reports, the investigators demonstrated that BMI1 was silenced in AD brains, but not in those with early-onset familial AD, frontotemporal dementia, or Lewy body dementia. More...