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Our International Press Coverage |
| Our discovery of ADDLs has been widely acclaimed in scientific
publications, with reports in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences
cited more than 2,100 times. Why is this number significant?
To examine our many scientific publications, visit
the publications
page.
Our ADDL story has also received broad
coverage in popular press and electronic media—locally, nationally and
internationally. Here are some examples: |
What's an ADDL
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Dr. William Klein is
interviewed by ABC's ScienCentral, its science
affiliate. Link to the
article and listen to an excerpt of the interview, click
here
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"Therapeutics designed to
increase insulin sensitivity in the brain could provide
new avenues for treating Alzheimer's disease," William
L. Klein, a researcher in Northwestern's Cognitive
Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center and senior
author of the study, said in a news release issued by
the school. "Sensitivity to insulin can decline with
aging, which presents a novel risk factor for
Alzheimer's disease. Our results demonstrate that
bolstering insulin signaling can protect neurons from
harm."
Link to the article
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Alzheimer's "is brain
diabetes" Treating Alzheimer's with the hormone
insulin, or with drugs to boost its effect, may help
patients, they claim.
The journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences reports insulin could protect against damage to
brain cells key to memory.
Link to the article
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Insulin may be key to
fighting Alzheimer's disease Insulin, the hormone that
regulates levels of sugar in the blood, may slow or
prevent memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease, a
study suggests.
Researchers examining the effects of diabetes drugs on
the brain have found that the medication appears to
protect cells responsible for the formation of memory.
Link to the article
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Diabetes drug offers
Alzheimer's hope. Hopes were raised that diabetes
drugs could be developed as treatments for Alzheimer’s
disease after scientists demonstrated the beneficial
effect of insulin on the brain.
A US-led research team found the hormone, released by
the pancreas to help control levels of sugar in the
blood, protected memory-forming parts of the brain. The
study, published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, concluded that insulin may slow or
prevent the memory loss caused by toxic proteins which
attack the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers.
Link to the article
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Insulin protects brain from
Alzheimer's - US Study "Our results demonstrate that
bolstering insulin signaling can protect neurons from
harm," William Klein of Northwestern University, whose
study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, said in a statement.
Klein said the findings support a new idea that
Alzheimer's is a type of diabetes of the brain.
Link to the article
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Insulin - Alzheimer's link
found. Researchers learn that the hormone may shield the
brain from toxic proteins that block new memories from
being formed. (Newspaper's link to article does not work correctly
at this time.) |
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A Northwestern
University-led research team reports that insulin, by
shielding memory-forming synapses from harm, may slow or
prevent the damage and memory loss caused by toxic
proteins in Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings, which provide additional new evidence that
Alzheimer’s could be due to a novel third form of
diabetes, were published online the week of February 2,
2009 by the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
To link to the press release, click here
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In August [2007],
a team of scientists at Northwestern University were the
first to show why the brain's "memory function" fails in
the face of an insulin shortage. The group's prior
research had already pinpointed the culprit: toxic
proteins called amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands
(ADDLs, for short), which are known to pile up in the
brains of people with Alzheimer's. Scientists also knew
that Alzheimer's patients' brains have lower levels of
insulin and are insulin resistant. But what the
Northwestern team discovered is the molecular mechanism
behind that resistance: when ADDLs bind to neurons at
synapses, they obliterate the receptors that are
normally reserved for insulin. Without those parking
spaces on the brain cells' surface, insulin has no place
to connect, and memory fails. Link to article
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Highly toxic proteins
trigger the first symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease … The
new proteins, called Amyloid beta-Derived Diffusible
Ligands ... can interfere with the process of learning
and memory long before any physical damage becomes
apparent, says Professor William Klein of Northwestern
University. … The implications are that, if symptoms are
caught at a sufficiently early stage, they might be
reversed. |
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… (ADDLs) interfere with
the process of memory consolidation …. [this] discovery
may explain a longstanding mystery in Alzheimer’s
research… |
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… discovery of ADDLs
explains glaring anomalies in the conventional thinking
about Alzheimer’s… |
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For many years, scientists
thought that (plaques) might cause all the damage to
neurons that is seen in AD. However, that concept has
evolved considerably in the past few years. Many
scientists now think that beta-amyloid clusters at an
earlier stage in the plaque development process—called
Ab-derived diffusible ligands, or ADDLs (also known as
soluble oligomers)—may be a major culprit. |
| …A research team at
Northwestern University has even suggested how oligomers
damage neurons and cause the memory loss that features
so prominently in AD… Scientists found that some
oligomers attached themselves to synapses… When this
happens, the synapses are not able to function properly…
Unable to communicate, the neuron ultimately ceases to
function and dies. As this destructive process
accelerates, essential cognitive operations, such as
memory formation and retrieval, are disrupted. |
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"Toxic proteins that
interfere with memory processes essential to memory and
learning have been identified.... [ADDLs] may account
for the loss of memory formation in early stage and for
nerve cell death and profound dementia at end stages of
the disease,” says lead author William L. Klein of
Northwestern University... |
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Insulin may protect brain
against Alzheimer's Scientists from the US and Brazil
have discovered that insulin may slow or prevent the
damage and loss of memory of Alzheimer's disease by
blocking the action of abnormal proteins that attack
brain cells, leading to the suggestion that Alzheimer's
may actually be a third type of diabetes caused by
weakening of insulin signalling in the brain.
Link to article
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Glasgow, Scotland |
“A newly discovered group
of toxic proteins believed to trigger Alzheimer’s
disease might be an important step towards effective
treatment for the disease … Professor William Klein of
Northwestern University, Illinois, who led the study,
said, “Our work suggests that ADDLs may account for the
loss of synaptic memory formation at the early stages of
Alzheimer’s disease.” |
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"…previously, ADDL was
found in brain tissue of Alzheimer’s sufferers, and many
researchers believe it plays a role in the dementia
associated with Alzheimer’s. … William Klein of
Northwestern’s department of neurobiology and physiology
said that the next task is to determine if ADDL can be
detected circulating in the blood of Alzheimer’s
patients.…" |
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Is Alzheimer's diabetes?
Klein says the evidence is strong enough to suggest that
Alzheimer's may be a type 3 diabetes. He thinks
modifying current diabetes drugs for delivery to the
brain could bring new treatments for Alzheimer's
disease. He would also like to find ways to fight the
toxic ADDLs. Link to article
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New Hope for Early
Detection of Alzheimer’s: A super-sensitive test for
Alzheimer’s that could identify the disease long before
symptoms appear has been demonstrated on patients… The
test is able to detect minute protein molecules called
ADDLs which are thought to accumulate in the brain and
trigger Alzheimer’s… |
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...scientists at
Northwestern University have discovered why brain
insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation --
would stop working in Alzheimer's disease. They have
shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of
individuals with Alzheimer's removes insulin receptors
from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin
resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming
synapses, is called an ADDL for “amyloid ß-derived
diffusible ligand.”) |
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A highly sensitive new
test...“This is good news indeed for identifying who is
at risk for Alzheimer’s and potentially for following
the effectiveness of new anti-amyloid medicines …,” said
(Dr. Samuel) Gandy, vice chair of the National Medical
and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s
Association |
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...Stephen Snyder, who
directs the National Institute on Aging program studying
the causes of Alzheimer’s (and was not part of the
research team), said the finding [supersensitive new
test] has future implications for both diagnosis and
treatment...“ADDLs have been thought to be involved in
diminishing aspects of cognition and this is proof of
principle that they exist and can be found in spinal
fluid...” |
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…a sensitive new test to
detect proteins related to Alzheimer’s disease in spinal
fluid. …the results were dramatic, and that has led
medical experts to predict that a test for people who
are living isn’t that far away. … |
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Researchers Deem
Alzheimer's a Type 3 Diabetes Link to article (pdf
download)
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...scientists at
Northwestern University have discovered why brain
insulin signaling -- crucial for memory formation --
would stop working in Alzheimer's disease. They have
shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of
individuals with Alzheimer's removes insulin receptors
from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin
resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming
synapses, is called an ADDL for “amyloid ß-derived
diffusible ligand.”) |
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New Test Could Detect the
Start of Alzheimer's... |
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"Researchers for more than a decade thought it was big molecules, the 'amyloid fibrils,' that caused memory problems, but we think the real culprits are extremely small molecules, what we call ADDLs," said Klein, who is a member of Northwestern's Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center. "Now we've shown that ADDLs are present in humans and are a clinically valid part of Alzheimer's pathology. If we can develop drugs that target and neutralize these neurotoxins, it might be possible to not only slow down memory loss, but to actually reverse it, to bring memory function back to normal." Link to the
article
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