Alzheimer's

Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center and Aarhus University have found a mechanism through which the gene variant APOE4, long linked to a high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, impairs neuronal function in the aging brain. The research was published in “Nature Metabolism.”

How do disordered proteins drive neurological diseases? Dr. Melissa Birol uses advanced imaging and brain organoids to uncover the hidden functions of these mysterious proteins. She hopes to find novel ways to treat incurable diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Max Delbrück Center have detailed the precise mechanism through which the inflammatory signaling molecule IL-12 contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. The study was published in the journal “Nature Aging.”

Melissa Birol of the Max Delbrück Center is looking to understand early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Her focus is on the interplay between the lipid metabolism of nerve cells and the spread of tau protein. The Alzheimer Research Initiative is funding her work with 193,500 euros.

If waste DNA or RNA remains in cells, it can lead to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and autoimmune conditions. Writing in Nucleic Acids Research, scientists led by Oliver Daumke of the Max Delbrück Center describe the role one enzyme plays in removing this waste.

The Arl8b protein provides new insights into the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer’s disease. It also has the potential to function as a diagnostic marker. The scientists behind this discovery, a team led by Erich Wanker from the Max Delbrück Center, have published their findings in “Genome Medicine”.

Researchers suspect that neurodegenerative diseases occur when messenger RNA (mRNA) goes astray in the neuron. With a new method, Marina Chekulaeva is able to identify “zipcodes” that assign a destination to mRNAs. She has now presented her method in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

With funding from the Alzheimer’s Association, Melissa Birol hopes to uncover the molecular causes of age-related dementia. Her hypothesis is that a fatal interaction of tau and ApoE proteins prevents neurons from being supplied with sufficient fat, triggering their death.

Erich Wanker wants to find out to what extent misfolded, and hence pathological, amyloid proteins structurally alter other proteins in the neurons – and thus contribute to the progression of Alzheimer’s dementia. He has now received €120,000 in funding from the non-profit "Alzheimer Forschung Initiative" to pursue this research.

Neuroscience is one of Berlin’s strongest fields of research. The Berlin Brains lecture series at Urania shows the breadth and depth of this research expertise in the capital city – this year under the theme “Junior Meets Senior.” The MDC’s Thomas Willnow and Anna Löwa are kicking off the series.