A team of researchers from Université Laval, CHU de Québec, and
pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has discovered a way
to stimulate the brain’s natural defense mechanisms in people
with Alzheimer’s disease. Toll-like receptor 4 stimulation with
the detoxified ligand monophosphoryl lipid A improves
Alzheimer’s disease-related pathology, presented in an early
online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS), opens the door to the development of a
treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and a vaccine to prevent the
illness. One of the main characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease
is the production in the brain of a toxic molecule known as
amyloid beta. Microglial cells, the nervous system’s defenders,
are unable to eliminate this substance, which forms deposits
called senile plaques. The team led by Dr. Serge Rivest,
professor at Université Laval’s Faculty of Medicine and
researcher at the CHU de Québec research center, identified a
molecule that stimulates the activity of the brain’s