Loading...
The ϵ4 form of apolipoprotein E (apoE4) dramatically increases risk for Alzheimer disease (AD). ApoE modifies the metabolism of the amyloid-beta (A-β) peptide, the primary constituent of the neuritic plaque. Patients with AD who have the APOE4 allele have an increased A-β plaque burden, and mice genetically engineered to produce apoE4 have more plaque than do mice that produce apoE3. Precisely how the apoE protein regulates the complex molecular machinery that, when impaired, predisposes an individual to AD remains unknown. These researchers aimed to identify this mechanism of apoE in a mouse model of AD. Some of the authors are employed by pharmaceutical manufacturers.
The authors demonstrated that apoE was intimately involved in the …