Summary of Iron’s Surprising Role in Alzheimer’s Uncovered:
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered a possible link between iron in the brain and Alzheimer’s disease using a new imaging probe. This new technique allowed the team to visualize the changes of Fe2+ and Fe3+ and their ratios in brain tissue, which could help them better understand why there is an increased ratio of Fe3+ to Fe2+ in the location of amyloid beta plaques and whether increased iron redox is involved in forming the plaques. The researchers also plan to explore whether iron and its redox change directly cause cell death in Alzheimer’s patients, which could provide a potential new strategy for drug development to protect brain cells.
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Researchers find a possible link between iron in the brain and Alzheimer’s disease using a new imaging probe.
A recent study led by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed an imaging probe that detects the presence of iron in the brain, which may be linked to Alzheimer’s disease. The study’s findings suggest that there may also be an increase in iron redox in regions of the brain where amyloid beta plaques are present. This increase indicates that iron in these areas is more reactive in the presence of oxygen. By using the imaging probe, the researchers hope to understand better the role iron may play in Alzheimer’s and devise new treatments targeting these changes.
Growing evidence suggests that iron in the brain may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
The study’s findings add to a growing body of evidence that iron in the brain may be a factor in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous research had observed elevated iron levels in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging. However, the new imaging technique is the first to simultaneously detect two different forms of iron (Fe2+ and Fe3+) while indicating their quantity and spatial distribution. The researchers plan to explore whether the increased iron redox is involved in forming amyloid beta plaques and whether it is directly involved in cell death in Alzheimer’s patients.
The imaging probe could guide the development of new treatments targeting iron redox changes.
The new imaging probe has the potential to provide critical insights into the role of iron in Alzheimer’s disease, which could guide the development of new treatments. The researchers discovered that their imaging technique could detect the changes in Fe2+ and Fe3+ and their ratios in each location. If it is determined that iron and its redox changes indeed cause cell death in Alzheimer’s patients, this information could provide a potential new strategy for drug development. A drug that changes the ratio of Fe3+ to Fe2+ could potentially help protect brain cells. The new imaging probe could test the efficacy of different drug candidates by changing the ratio.
The researchers developed DNA-based fluorescent sensors to detect iron in the brain.
To develop the imaging probe, the researchers hired a commercial lab to produce a library of 100 trillion short DNA strands. Through a screening process, they could select those strands that bound tightly to and conducted a catalytic reaction with Fe2+ and Fe3+. The researchers plan to continue exploring the potential implications of the new imaging technique in follow-up studies involving Alzheimer’s mice. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Robert A. Welch Foundation.
