Collagen protects brain from Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have discovered that a certain type of collagen, collagen VI, protects brain cells against amyloid-beta protein, the accumulation of which is thought to cause Alzheimer's disease.

Lennart Mucke, MD and colleagues from the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND), UCSF, and Stanford University studied an area of the brain called the dentate gyrus, which is critical for memory and is particularly vulnerable in Alzheimer's disease. By comparing which genes were turned on and off in normal mice and a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease the researchers found that that was a significant increase in the amount of collagen VI in the brains of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. This discovery led them to compare brain tissue from Alzheimer's disease patients and those without the neurodegenerative disease. Results showed that collagen VI levels were significantly higher in the Alzheimer's disease patients.

The researchers then discovered that the source of collagen VI in the brain was, in fact, neurons - the very same cells which are destroyed by Alzheimer's disease. Further investigations revealed that when adding amyloid-beta to neurons grown in culture increased the expression of collagen VI. However, the researchers also found that increasing the amount of collagen VI in the cultures protected the neurons from the damaging effects of amyloid-beta.

"We are eager to explore how this kind of process might be enhanced therapeutically and how we can best leverage it for the development of more effective treatments for this devastating condition," said study co-author Dr Dena Dubal.

News release: A special type of collagen may help protect the brain against Alzheimer's disease. Gladstone Institutes. December 10th 2008.