Researchers at Gladstone Institutes led by Senior Investigator Katerina Akassoglou, Ph.D., showed that exposure to blood leaking into the brain turns on harmful genes in microglia, transforming them into toxic cells that can destroy neurons.
The scientists discovered that a blood protein called fibrin—which normally aids blood clotting—is responsible for turning on the detrimental genes in microglia, both in Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. The findings, published in the journal Nature Immunology, suggest that counteracting the blood toxicity caused by fibrin can protect the brain from harmful inflammation and loss of neurons in neurological diseases.
“Our study answers, for the first time in a comprehensive way, how blood that leaks into the brain hijacks the brain’s immune system to cause toxic effects in brain diseases,” says Akassoglou, who is also director of the Center for Neurovascular Brain Immunology at Gladstone and a professor of neurology at UC San Francisco (UCSF). “Knowing how blood affects the brain could help us develop innovative treatments for neurological diseases.”
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New insights into how blood makes the brain’s immune cells toxic point to new therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis
American Buddhist Net 