Alzheimer’s is a complex neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of people worldwide. Yet despite extensive research, our understanding of why the disease leads to cognitive decline and memory loss remains incomplete. Now, researchers in the University of Victoria’s Division of Medical Sciences have published an article in Nature Communications that could critically improve our understanding of what causes Alzheimer’s disease.
Many well-accepted explanations of the disease include oxidative stress, inflammation, and the buildup of protein clumps (e.g., of amyloid-beta and tau). However, in the new paper, first-author and MSc student Victor Lau (Tremblay Lab), Dr. Leanne Ramer (Simon Fraser University), and senior author Dr. Marie-Ève Tremblay propose a new hypothesis: the progression of Alzheimer’s disease must involve maladaptive, senescent cell buildup.