NEW YORK: The protein that has been implicated as the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, beta amyloid, can fight microbial infection, a new study in animals has found.
The findings, published today have renewed debate about the role of beta amyloid in Alzheimer’s, and raised questions about whether finding a drug to clear it from the brain should be the holy grail for researchers.
“Historically beta amyloid has been thought of as junk — something we don’t want,” said Dr Gawain McColl, an expert in the biology of aging from the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and a co-author of the study.
“So the focus hasn’t been on finding out whether it has a normal function, and if so, what it is.”
The new study builds on previous research by senior author Dr Rob Moir from Harvard University that found the structure of beta amyloid had similarities to antimicrobial peptides that are part of the body’s immune system.