Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Alzheimer’s and Your DNA
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a condition that afflicts millions of people around the world, involving progressively worsening memory loss. Alzheimer’s also affects aspects of thought and language, although the specific mechanisms can be complicated and mysterious. As AD progresses, neurodegeneration, or the slow decline of function in the brain, also progresses. However, the relationship between these two events is still unknown. A recent study examined the relationship between these two biological events by looking at the DNA genome of individual cells. Through investigating the DNA of a single cell, researchers were able to find patterns in DNA mutations in relation to neurodegeneration. DNA mutations are accidents in the code of DNA that can lead to the production of malfunctioning cell products, such as chemical signals or molecules that affect our bodily processes. These mutations are thought to be caused by AD, and result in neurodegeneration. While our brain cells do undergo DNA mutations as a result of aging, the mutations associated with AD neurodegeneration were distinct from the normal aging mutations.
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The cells that the team examined were somatic neurons. Somatic neurons (brain cells) connect muscles and sensory organs to the brain. They compared the mutations in the DNA of those suffering from AD to patients with normal brain function. The team highlighted that AD affected neurons typically suffer from nucleotide oxidation, and that a specific type of mutation called “signature c” is most often associated with this nucleotide oxidation. Nucleotide oxidation is a process that destabilizes DNA, causing the bases to wrongly pair. The proper pairings of DNA bases are A to T and C to G. The specific signature c mutations that were described are when nucleotide oxidation results in a C and A base pairing. This improper base pairing cannot be fixed by any cellular process and results in permanent DNA damage. Accumulation of these mutations decreases the function of neurons in the brain, leading to the neurodegeneration that is so often associated with AD.
While this is not a cure to AD by any means, a better understanding of how AD develops is hugely important for further understanding how scientists can fight the devastating and scary effects of AD. Additionally, understanding how AD affects and causes other neurological issues is key to mitigating its control. Finally, simply understanding what might be happening in the brain of a loved one can bring a certain peace of mind, even if it isn’t a cure.
While this is not a cure to AD by any means, a better understanding of how AD develops is hugely important for further understanding how scientists can fight the devastating and scary effects of AD. Additionally, understanding how AD affects and causes other neurological issues is key to mitigating its control. Finally, simply understanding what might be happening in the brain of a loved one can bring a certain peace of mind, even if it isn’t a cure.
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