Alzheimer’s disease is an age-related neurodegenerative condition, which impacts millions of people in the world. It is characterized by the buildup of beta amyloid plaques in the brain, which compromises connection between neurons and eventually degrades the brain causing a huge loss of a cognitive function.
Now researchers at the University of Queensland started using tiny live brain models to look for potential treatments.
The main characteristics of Alzheimer's disease – they are very difficult to study in a living brain. Image credit: Wikimedia
Studying Alzheimer’s disease is hard. Obviously, there are plenty of brain samples available from patients who agreed to donate their bodies to science. However, studying the disease in live models is quite tricky and that’s where these miniature models could come in handy, especially for testing new molecules. Scientists created these organoids – models that closely mimic the human brain – and using them discovered different cellular mechanisms that can either accelerate or reduce brain cell deterioration.
Scientists used these organoids to find that DNA leakage accelerated ageing in the rare neurodegenerative disease Ataxia-Telangiectasia. In subsequent experiments researchers found that klotho protein, sometimes described as having anti-ageing properties, reduced the deterioration in brain cells associated with age and dementia by 89 %. Scientists say that increasing klotho in human brain cells could potentially help halt or at least slow down Alzheimer’s disease.
Professor Ernst Wolvetang, one of the authors of the study, said: “We have found that human brain organoids can be used to study the molecular mechanisms that drive brain ageing processes. This opens the way for testing many molecules that could become potential therapeutic drugs for a host of neurodegenerative diseases.”
Those miniscule brain models allow researching Ataxia-Telangiectasia as well. Children suffering from Ataxia-Telangiectasia lack protein critical for DNA repair and therefore show signs of premature ageing. At the moment Ataxia-Telangiectasia is an incurable condition, but scientists hope that those organoids can help them find a solution for the future. In general, this approach may be extremely beneficial for studying ageing and neurodegenerative conditions.
Studying human bodies is more difficult than it looks like. There are ethical concerns, difficulties finding appropriate samples, trouble with methodology, etc. Animal models are very important, especially in drug testing, but sometimes they are not enough. And that’s why those tiny organoids resembling live human brain are so important.
Source: University of Queensland