The blood-brain barrier -; a network of blood vessels and tissues that nurtures and protects the brain from harmful substances circulating in the blood -; is disrupted in Alzheimer's disease. Now, researchers at Mayo Clinic and collaborators have uncovered unique molecular signatures of blood-brain barrier dysfunction that could point to new ways to diagnose and treat the disease. Their findings are published in Nature Communications .
These signatures have high potential to become novel biomarkers that capture brain changes in Alzheimer's disease." Nilüfer Ertekin-Taner, M.D.
, Ph.D., senior author, chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Mayo Clinic and leader of the Genetics of Alzheimer's Disease and Endophenotypes Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, Florida To conduct the study, the research team analyzed human brain tissue from the Mayo Clinic Brain Bank, as well as published datasets and brain tissue samples from collaborating institutions.
The study cohort included brain tissue samples from 12 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 12 healthy patients with no confirmed Alzheimer's disease. All participants had donated their tissue for science. Using these and external datasets, the team analyzed thousands of cells in more than six brain regions, making this one of the most rigorous studies of the blood-brain barrier in Alzheimer's disease to date, according to the researchers.
They focused on brain vascular cells, which make up a small portion of cell types in the brain, to.
