They are called HSP90AA1, PTK2B and ANXA2 and these letter and number combinations refer to three human proteins which are associated with cognitive disorders associated with Alzheimer’s disease. This is revealed in the article published by the Neuroplasticity and Neurodegeneration group of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) which could open up new possibilities for diagnosing and treating the disease neurodegenerative disease with the highest prevalence in the world, since – according to the World Health Organization – it affects 60 million people on five continents, including around 800,000 in Spain.
It is not for nothing that the prestigious journal Brain Pathology published the article in a special issue dedicated precisely to biomarkers in the diagnosis and molecular elucidation of neurodegenerative diseases. In fact, one of the images from this article was selected for the cover of the magazine.
The study led by the researcher from the Faculty of Medicine of UCLM of Ciudad Real, Verónica Astillero López, managed to identify these three proteins as biomarkers in human samples revealing the presence of the disease. Specifically, the research team carried out a protein analysis to compare human brain tissues (specifically belonging to the entorhinal cortex) from healthy people (control cases) and people with Alzheimer’s disease. The results revealed that the most altered signaling pathway was synaptogenesis, that is, the formation of synapses, neural connections; highlighting the proteins HSP90AA1, PTK2B and ANXA2.
These three biomarkers appeared located next to neurons and nervous tissue cells (astroglia and microglia) and with pathological deposits of beta-amyloid and tau (another relevant biomarker in Alzheimer’s disease). “Therefore – concludes Professor Verónica Astillero López – the unbalanced expression of HSP90AA1, PTK2B and ANXA2 in patients with Alzheimer’s disease could play a potential role in synaptic homeostasis. [el mecanismo que se encarga de adaptar nuestro organismo a los cambios del entorno para ayudar a su supervivencia] become possible diagnostic and/or therapeutic targets.
The article “Proteomic analysis identifies HSP90AA1, PTK2B and ANXA2 in the human entorhinal cortex in Alzheimer’s disease: potential role in synaptic homeostasis and Aβ pathology through microglial and astroglial cells” is signed, in addition to Astillero López, by UCLM researchers/aces Sandra Villar Conde, Melania González Rodríguez, Alicia Flores Cuadrado, Alino Martinez Marcos, Isabel Úbeda Bañón and Daniel Saiz Sánchez.
Sponsorship and patronage
The Neuroplasticity and Neurodegeneration research group is leading an active sponsorship and patronage campaign aimed at research into Alzheimer’s disease in order to continue working on the early detection and treatment of this disease. Any contribution from 15 euros will be welcome.. Collaborators will be able to deduct up to 20 euros.
