Researchers from the University of Helsinki have found a mechanism that could contribute to Alzheimer's disease by harming the neurons processing information in the brain.
Clumps of protein, called Tau aggregates, can contribute to the progression of Alzheimer's in the human brain.
The research team closely observed tau transfer between cells using primary cortical neurons, prepared from rat embryos.
When transmitting these Tau aggregates, they observed that the mechanism kills cells and accelerates the loss of connections between them.
"Currently we are only able to treat the symptoms of these disorders, which makes the development of a treatment that slows down disease progression an important goal," Dr. Henri Huttunen told MedicalXpress.