Drugs that modify the structure of DNA may be beneficial for treating the Alzheimer's disease, scientists have found.
Researcher Bess Frost, and co-authors, from Brigham and Women's Hospital, US, have identified 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, researchers said.
Given that DNA damage can change the structure of DNA within cells, the researchers examined changes in DNA structure in tau-induced neurodegeneration.
They used transgenic flies and mice expressing human tau to show that DNA is more relaxed in tauopathy.
They then identified that the relaxation of tightly wound DNA and resulting abnormal gene expression are central events that cause neurons to die in Alzheimer's disease.
"Our work suggests that drugs that modify DNA structure may be beneficial for treating Alzheimer's Disease," researchers said.
"A greater understanding of the pathway of DNA relaxation in tauopathies will allow us to identify the optimal target and explore the therapeutic potential of epigenetic-based drugs," they said.
The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
