News

Proteins identified as key to ageing brain and other disease

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:14:00 BST

Scientists at the University of Portsmouth have been awarded £600,000 to pursue a unique avenue of research which could make significant progress into understanding the aging brain and diseases such as dementia and multiple sclerosis.

The team from the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences has identified the function of little known proteins which they believe could be fundamental in the ageing process and be responsible for cognitive decline.

They have found that a protein known as Kir4.1 is a key element in controlling special cells in the brain and spinal cord that form myelin, a substance which insulates the brain’s wiring.  They discovered that the protein is critical to ensuring that these cells, known as oligodendrocytes, function well.  The team represents the only laboratory in the UK researching this avenue and have been awarded £500K by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to further investigate their findings.

The researchers already know that myelin acts as the insulating layer around nerve cells and is essential for rapid conduction of information.  Myelin insulates nerve fibres in the central nervous system and when it is damaged this interferes with messages between the brain and other parts of the body.  Previously much work in this area has focussed on the nerve cells, but the team believes that these can only transmit information if the oligodendrocytes are doing their job.

They are also researching a little known protein called Gas6 which they have discovered can stimulate oligodendrocyte production and survival.  A further £100K funding from the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society will further their investigation of how Gas6 acts as a growth factor on cells in the brain’s white matter via signalling molecules called TAM receptors.

Leading the new research is the University’s Professor Arthur Butt, a world specialist on glial cells, the family of cells to which oligodendrocytes belong.

He said:  “These cells in the brain are generated at birth and during the first years of development.  But they continue to be generated in the adult brain and are important for replacing cells lost during the normal ageing process.

“We think that the brain slows down its production of these cells as it ages and this decreases the rate at which the brain repairs its white matter – important for cognitive function.   The area of the brain known as the Hippocampus, important for storing memory, is also affected.

“Through investigating the signals used by the brain to control these functions  we hope to gain further insight into the aging brain and better understand  diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

Dr Sassan Hafizi, also of the University of Portsmouth, is using the same channels of research to investigate MS.  Symptoms of the disease, which include memory and emotional problems as well as effects on the body, are the result of lesions on the brain’s white matter caused by damage to myelin and to oligodendrocytes.

He said:  “The brain and spinal cord of adults contains a large number of stem cells that have the potential to regenerate oligodendrocytes and repair damage in MS. By understanding how this process goes wrong in people with MS, there is potential to develop therapies for the disease.”

The team’s combined research will focus on signals in the brain which stimulate the growth and regeneration of oligodendrocytes and myelin.

The results of the research, which will start later this year and take three years, could be used to develop experimental treatments for diseases of the brain and for MS.   There is also the potential in the future for a diagnostic tool for clinicians to use to predict Alzheimer’s and dementia.