What can proteins in the blood and elsewhere teach us about developing dementia? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Proteins known as tau and beta amyloid have been part of the dialogue on Alzheimer’s disease development for many years, with methods to measure them and drugs to remove them active areas of research. Another protein involved in the process is gaining attention, explains Paul Worley, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins, with several studies validating its role.

Worley: The other part of the advance is what is the nature of those proteins. The protein that was recently identified to be the most predictive across many different forms familial and sporadic neurodegenerative disease is a protein NPT X2 that we worked on for years.    :24

NPTX2 levels undergo identifiable changes years before any clinical changes indicating Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias are apparent, or before blood markers may indicate risk, Worley says, so it may be a target for modification. Right now one downside is it requires a spinal tap to measure. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.