Dr. Sheryl K. Brining
Note: We only received this text from Dr. Brining.
My Ph.D. is in neuroanatomy, 1991, University of Cincinnati. I
have migrated to more biochemical research on the protein that accumulates in Alzheimer's disease brains,
the beta-amyloid peptide, or BA for short. BA collects in compact plaques in the brain. These compact plaques
may be one of the causes of Alzheimer's disease. Interestingly, there is also a nontoxic type of this peptide
that collects into diffuse plaques and seems to be a normal part of aging, not causing any disease problems.
So, some of my research is aimed at understanding the difference between the toxic and nontoxic forms of BA.
Another interesting fact is that rats and other rodents do not
ever show any BA plaques. People have put BA into their brains and they
are able to break the peptide up into small pieces and get rid of it. So,
another area of my research is aimed at understanding what the rat brain
does with this protein. The goal is to identify the chemicals responsible
for disposing of the BA peptide in the rat brain and perhaps these same
chemicals can be boosted in humans who get Alzheimer's disease.
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