治癒失智症 Alzheimer's disease 的新希望

[Baylor University的Maura Costa-Mattioli及Ottawa Hospital Research Institute的John
Bell等發現小老鼠和人的腦有很相似的地方。兩者的腦，都有一種基因稱為 PKR，是在有失智症Alzheimer’s
disease時腦內會釋放、出現的。而最近他們還發現腦內有可以抑制 PKR的基因。
Costa-Mattioli現在已發現可以抑制PKR的藥物。如果PKR被抑制，腦還會釋出gamma-interferon，可以增強神經細胞細胞間的溝通，增強記憶。他們的研究可能會導致治療失智症、加強記憶的藥物。]

“Super memory” pill–and possibly an
Alzheimer’s cure–could be around the corner

 (Damian
Dovarganes/AP)

Scientists have isolated a gene in mice that works to give
them "super memories" and reverses the course of several degenerative
mental illnesses like Alzheimer's. And because of the similarity of mice and
human brains, a powerful brain pill for humans may now not be far off.

The brains of both mice and humans release a gene known
as PKR, which is triggered by the onset of Alzheimer's. But the newly discovered gene can apparently
block PKR's release--a development that not only can reverse the course
of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, but induces a state of
"super memory" in the mice it has been tested on.

"If we were to find an inhibitor, a molecule, a drug
that will specifically block PKR, we should be able to do the same [in humans],"
Maura Costa-Mattioli, who led the
research study at Baylor University, told the Vancouver Sun. "And
we did."

"We recognize that PKR
plays a dual role, one in regulating simple everyday processes like the
way neurons talk to each other [for] memory, but also has a stress
response," added John Bell, a
senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute who also
contributed to the study.

More from the Sun:

A virus is one form of stress that triggers PKR, but
Alzheimer's patients' brains also experience PKR-releasing stress, said
Bell, whose cancer research led him to create PKR-deficient mice which he
shared with Costa-Mattioli's lab. Researchers found that when PKR is
genetically suppressed in mice, another immune molecule, called gamma interferon,
increases communication between neurons, improving memory and making brain
function more efficient, Costa-Mattioli said.

Reportedly, when
PKR is blocked, the gamma interferon can work more or less spontaneously to
improve brain functions--and can be activated via a simple PKR-inhibitor
injection into a mouse's stomach rather than through more conventional
and drawn-out gene therapy. The possible application for humans would lead to
something like taking a "brain pill" to treat diseases like
Alzheimer's, or simply to give the memory a significant boost:

When the researchers tested the PKR-deficient mice in a
series of memory tests, those mice were able to pick up on patterns and
remember them on the first try, while the other mice needed days to figure out
how to solve the puzzle. The PKR-deficient mice consistently showed
significantly better memory and learning abilities than their counterparts.

Of course, Costa-Mattioli said the goal is not to create a
new society of super-memory powered people.

"Let's say we'd compare with Viagra. People use Viagra
at whatever age, let's say 60, 65. But someone (who) is 40 goes to buy it, they
can get it," he said. "But this is not our goal . . . Our goal would
be to treat people who have a memory problem."