{"id":466284,"date":"2026-02-08T10:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T10:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/466284\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T10:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T10:59:10","slug":"scientists-find-a-new-way-to-slow-memory-loss-in-alzheimers-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/466284\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists find a new way to slow memory loss in Alzheimer\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists have found a potential new way to slow memory loss in Alzheimer\u2019s, a neurodegenerative disorder that gradually damages memory and thinking, according to a new study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a non-profit institution in New York, have found that an enzyme called PTP1B contributes to memory decline in mice with the condition.<\/p>\n

Their findings reveal a new role for the enzyme in immune cell signalling and suggest it could be a promising treatment approach for Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

The study\u2019s corresponding author and a professor at the lab, Nicholas Tonks, has studied the enzyme\u2019s role in health and disease since discovering PTP1B in 1988.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

Tonks and his team found that reducing PTP1B activity helped the brain\u2019s immune cells clear amyloid-\u03b2 (A\u03b2) plaques, protein build-ups associated with Alzheimer\u2019s disease. These immune cells, known as microglia, normally remove debris in the brain but become less effective as the disease progresses.<\/p>\n

The study suggests that PTP1B interacts with a protein called spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK), which regulates how microglia respond to damage and clear A\u03b2.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of the disease, these cells become exhausted and less effective,\u201d said Yuxin Cen, the study lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur results suggest that PTP1B inhibition can improve microglial function, clearing up A\u03b2 plaques,\u201d Cen added.<\/p>\n

PTP1B is already known to play an important role in metabolic conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes, two other well-recognised risk factors for the neurodegenerative disorder<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

New pathway for treatment<\/p>\n

The laboratory is now working to develop PTP1B inhibitors for multiple applications.<\/p>\n

For Alzheimer\u2019s disease, Tonks envisions a combination of therapies that pair existing approved drugs with PTP1B inhibitors.<\/p>\n

According to the World Health Organization, cholinesterase inhibitors such as donepezil are currently used to treat Alzheimer\u2019s disease, while NMDA receptor antagonists such as memantine are prescribed for more advanced stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to slow Alzheimer\u2019s progression and improve the quality of life of the patients,\u201d said Tonks.<\/p>\n

More than 55 million people live with dementia globally, with Alzheimer\u2019s disease accounting for up to 70 percent of cases, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a slow bereavement,\u201d said Tonks, whose mother lived with Alzheimer\u2019s. \u201cYou lose the person piece by piece.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists have found a potential new way to slow memory loss in Alzheimer\u2019s, a neurodegenerative disorder that gradually…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466285,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[4012,64,63,238487,137,238489,100871,63209,238488],"class_list":{"0":"post-466284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-alzheimers-disease","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-cold-spring-harbor-laboratory","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-immune-cell","14":"tag-memory-loss","15":"tag-neurodegenerative-disorder","16":"tag-nicholas-tonks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}