A potential near-term treatment for Alzheimer's disease

For the first time, scientists from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) have identified gene recombination, or "mixing and matching" of DNA, in the brain.

New technology revealed DNA in neurons is recombined, producing thousands of previously unknown gene variations—and identifying a potential near-term treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published in Nature and authored by Jerold Chun, M.D., Ph.D., professor and senior vice president of Neuroscience Drug Discovery at SBP, focused on the Alzheimer’s-linked gene, APP, and discovered it is recombined by using the same type of enzyme found in HIV.

This finding indicates existing FDA-approved antiretroviral therapies for HIV that block reverse transcriptase might also be able to halt the recombination process—and could be explored as a new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

There is no medical evidence that HIV or AIDS causes Alzheimer’s disease.

Read the press release: http://bit.ly/2OT0Qw6

Watch study author Jerold Chun explain the discovery:    • Discovery of a potential Alzheimer's ...  

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Full transcript:

Alzheimer's is a devastating disease. No effective treatment exists and the crisis is deepening now.

A discovery has been made that fundamentally changes how we understand the brain and Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists have discovered that our genetic blueprint, DNA, previously thought to remain identical in most of our cells, is actually mixed and matched, or recombined, in the brain, creating thousands of never before seen gene variations.

The scientists also found many changes distinct to Alzheimer's disease.

Let's imagine DNA as a language each cell uses to speak. The scientists found that in neurons, a single word may produce thousands of new words in Alzheimer's disease. They formed new and toxic words.

An enzyme called reverse transcriptase is needed to reinsert words into the DNA blueprint, creating a language that can enhance the brain or a toxic language that confuses the brain.

Reverse transcriptase is the same kind of enzyme used by HIV to replicate, providing scientific rationale that currently available HIV medicines, which block reverse transcriptase, hold potential as an Alzheimer's disease treatment.

Although much more research is needed, this discovery helps us understand how the brain normally works and what happens in the brain during Alzheimer's disease--uncovering a potential near-term treatment and increasing our understanding of many more conditions, providing hope for patients and their families around the world.