By St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Scientists at St. Jude found that a subset of CD8+ T cells in the brain lessens the activation of microglia and limits disease pathology in a model of Alzheimer’s disease.
As many as 5.8 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition associated with progressive cognitive decline, including loss of memory capabilities. Protein aggregates, composed of beta-amyloid or other proteins, form in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s. These beta-amyloid plaques appear to be a significant contributor to the disease. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists uncovered a subset of immune cells that appears to slow this beta-amyloid plaque accumulation and the key proteins involved in the process. The findings were published today in Nature Immunology.