"Is the Alzheimer's Protein Contagious?"
A new study is the first evidence in humans that amyloid-?, the neuron-clogging protein that is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, might be transmissible through medical procedures such as brain surgery. Although scientists have successfully induced amyloid-? transmission in rodents, these experiments relied on "massive" overexpression of the protein, says Samuel Gandy, MD, a neuropathologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Exhaustive" attempts to reproduce such transmission in primates have failed, he says, leading many to doubt whether such propagation is possible.
- Samuel Gandy, MD, Professor, Neurology, Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director, Mount Sinai Center for Cognitive Health