amyloid protein

Study Shows Alzheimer’s Protein May Not Spread Like a Virus

By Alexandra SifferlinFeb. 05, 2013

Scientists believe that amyloid protein plays a role in Alzheimer’s but are still trying to explain how.

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, which is characterized by memory loss and dementia, is a protein called amyloid. In patients who die of the disease, sticky plaques of the protein are found in the brain at autopsy, although not all people with amyloid deposits develop Alzheimer’s. But why does the protein start to gum up the delicate network of nerves in the brain? Some recent evidence suggested that the protein, which the body makes normally in small amounts, spreads from one cell to another in the brain of affected patients, eventually compromising multiple regions of the brain over time./.../