5 million people in the United States were living with Alzheimer’s, but as the population ages, that number is predicted to almost triple, reaching 14 million people by 2060.
In the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s, there is a buildup of insoluble plaques made of a protein called beta-amyloid and fibrous tangles of another protein, called tau.Beta-amyloid is a fragment of a much larger protein called the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which is present in many organs, especially in the brain.
Enzymes can break down APP in two ways, either by creating a beta-amyloid fragment or another, apparently harmless fragment. Scientists at the Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, in Spain, have now found evidence that the way APP is “labeled”.