by Scientists have identified certain brain cells that react the most to movement, progress that could lead to a pill to increase the advantages that Alzheimer’s patients receive from training.
The study published in the Nature Nature Nature Nature shows further insights into the connection between movement and brain and can indicate future drug goals.
“While we have known for a long time that movement protects the brain, we did not fully understand which cells were responsible or how it worked at a molecular level,” said co-author Christiane D. Wrann from Mass General Brigham in the USA.
“Now we have a detailed map of how the training on every main cell type in the brain’s memory center affects the Alzheimer disease,” said Dr. Wrann.
In the study, scientists focused on the hippocampus of the brain – a key region for memory and learning, which is damaged by Alzheimer’s at the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease.
The researchers used in modern technology to fit into the molecules in individual cell nucleus, the genetic activity in individual cells in order to understand a detailed understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
They used a common mouse model for the Alzheimer disease, which ran to the use of an improved memory compared to the sitting rodents on wheels.
The researchers then analyzed the individual cells in the brain of these mice.
They found that the rodents on wheels had changed the activity in Alzheimer’s disease-associated microglia cells that are in the entire brain and spinal cord.
Scientists also found a changed activity that was connected to the training in a certain cell type as oligodendrocytes predator cells associated with blood vessels in the brain.
They further examined to determine that a gene called ATPIF1 was an important regulator when creating new nerve cells in the brain.
“The fact that we were able to modulate newborn neurons with our new target genes emphasizes the promise of our study,” said Joana da Rocha, senior author of the study.
The researchers then validated their discoveries in a large data set of the brain tissue of the human Alzheimer’s and found striking similarities.
“This work not only illuminates how the training benefits the brain, but also reveals potential cell-specific goals for future Alzheimer’s therapies,” said Nathan Tucker, another author of the study.
“Together, this data show a comprehensive resource to understand the molecular mediators of neuroprotection through movement at Alzheimer’s,” wrote scientists.
