Plaques in the cerebral cortex of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease.WIKIMEDIA, KGH
Growing stem-cell-derived neurons in a gel matrix has enabled researchers to reproduce the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in vitro for the first time. The cell culture model, reported yesterday (October 12) in Nature, overcomes several limitations of mouse models and cultured neurons commonly used to study the disorder.
Because the gel matrix allows neurons to form networks similar to those in the brain, overexpressing genes with Alzheimer’s-linked mutations causes the cells to develop the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles characteristic of the disease.
In mouse models, researchers have observed either plaques in the brain or tangles, but never both in the same brain. Drug molecules tested in mice have often appeared promising, but then failed in humans. “The lack of a viable model for Alzheimer’s ...
