According to the researchers, antagonists of the glutamate receptor could slow down, or even eliminate, the phenomenon of synapse deterioration involved in memory disorders.
Scientists from the Institute of Biology of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Northwestern University (Chicago) have studied, using a nanoparticle labeling system, the progression of specific molecules, beta-amyloid oligomers, on neurons mouse hippocampus.
As a result, beta-amyloid oligomers accumulate at synapses to form “amyloid aggregates”; which causes a “decreased mobility of certain glutamate receptors (mGluR5)”, a neurotransmitter.
According to the researchers, it is this phenomenon that generates the deterioration and dysfunction of synapses linked to memory disorders. Thus, scientists believe that mGluR5 antagonists could prevent the disorders of the initial phase of the disease.
“mGluR5s may be a better target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease than other specific glutamate receptors so far targeted. Since mGluR5s are located further upstream in the synaptic toxicity pathway. Moreover, via the new pathological mechanism that we have discovered, our results open the way for new alternative or complementary therapeutic approaches”, indicates Antoine Triller, director of the Institute.
