US research team identifies genes responsible for "dementia"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A team of American researchers at the University of California has identified genetic processes responsible for neuronal death in patients with dementia, an important step in the development of treatments that can slow or stop the disease. disease, according to a study published yesterday in Nature Medicine. (Medicine of nature). During the study, the researchers discovered two major groups of genes involved in mutations leading to the production of a protein called "Tao", which causes the progressive loss of nerve cells, causing dementia. The Tao protein disrupts the neurons of the inner cortex, one of the parts of the brain responsible for involuntary movement and memory functions, while mutations in the GRN and MAPT genes cause overproduction of this protein. Some rats.

According to a report released by the University of California in conjunction with the publication of the study, Dr. Daniel Geschwind, of the University's David Geffen School of Medicine, said that this study provided a leaf Roadmap for the development of effective drugs against dementia and Alzheimer's disease, affecting millions of people around the world. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, last December, about 50 million people worldwide had dementia, 10 million new cases each year and no cure.

Despite the efforts of the past to understand how this happens, the causes of brain cell death are still poorly understood. This research is unique in that it monitors the complex interactions of the pathogenic genes and the proteins they produce, explains Jeschwind. "The researchers were able to understand how the disease occurred, using an effective method for studying biology called systems biology, identifying the genetic processes responsible for the mutation that leads to excessive production of taw in frontal dementia This causes neuronal atrophy in the front of the brain, a form of early dementia.It has also been shown that a similar process is important in the disease. Alzheimer's. "