Vintage cars show kicks off in London
Gorgeous scenery in NE China
Picturesque Barkol grassland in Xinjiang
Small Wild Goose Pagoda - A World Cultural Heritage Site along the Silk Road
Maritime Silk Road Luxuries of the Han Dynasty
Ciao! Chinese beauties!
An eye feast: BFA freshmen registration
Top 10 most lavish weddings
Most amazing chi-pao beauties
Chinese lingerie brand arrives in Las Vegas
TOKYO, Sept. 18 -- Researchers in Japan may have discovered the pathological mechanism of Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on phosphoproteome analysis, which would provide new clues to an effective therapy for the currently incurable disease, Japanese news website news.mynavi.jp reported on Thursday.
Comprehensive phosphoproteome analysis unravels the core signaling network that initiates the earliest synapse pathology in preclinical AD brain, said the researchers led by Kazuhiko Tagawa from Tokyo Medical and Dental University in a report published on Wednesday in the online edition of Human Molecular Genetics.
Using a high-end mass spectrometry, the researchers screened phosphoproteins and phosphopeptides in four types of AD mouse models and human AD postmortem brains.
"We identified commonly changed phosphoproteins in multiple models and also determined phosphoproteins related to initiation of A deposition in the mouse brain," they said.
After confirming these proteins were also changed in human AD brains, the researchers put the proteins on experimentally verified protein-protein interaction databases. "Surprisingly most of the core phosphoproteins were directly connected, and they formed a functional network linked to synaptic spine formation," they said.
They found the change of the core network started at a preclinical stage even before histological A deposition. Systems biology analyses suggested phosphorylation of MARCKS by over- activated kinases including PKCs and CaMKs initiates synapse pathology.
"Two-photon microscopic observation revealed recovery of abnormal spine formation in the AD model mice by targeting a core protein MARCKS or by inhibiting candidate kinases, supporting our hypothesis formulated based on phosphoproteome analysis," said the researchers.
AD is the most common form of dementia. There is at present no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death.
Giant white gourd weighing 87 kilograms appears in SE China
Advanced arms help to safeguard China-ASEAN Expo
Leading director Wang Quan'an detained for 'buying sex'
Heaven on earth: Dongjiang Lake in Hunan
Mixed reaction to smartphone sidewalk
'Rainbow running' race in Jiangxi
Amazing aerial photos of China's Xisha Islands
Beautiful postgraduate teaches in remote area
Top 10 world's highest-paid models 2014
Lingerie show at 2014 Miss China
Songstress Li Xianglan dies at 94
Police recruiting posters
Anshun Daxi- Living fossil of Chinese drama
Urban farmers in China
'Firepower-2014 Weibei'military exerciseDay|Week|Month