Drugs that modify DNA structure may be beneficial for treating Alzheimer's disease

In a study published in Nature Neuroscience, Bess Frost, PhD, and co-authors, identify abnormal expression of genes, resulting from DNA relaxation, that can be detected in the brain and blood of Alzheimer's patients.The protein tau is involved in a number of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. Previous studies have implicated DNA damage as a cause of neuron, or cell, death in Alzheimer's patients. Given that DNA damage can change the structure of DNA within cells, the researchers examined changes in DNA structure in tau-induced neurodegeneration.