Brain Trauma Borrows from Alzheimer’s Disease to Degrade the Brain
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias. Pieces of genetic material called micro (mi) RNAs are in every cell and are important to normal, healthy organs including the brain. Using genomic screening, more than 800 miRNAs were measured in the brain after TBI. Dozens of miRNAs were abnormally present and found to be involved in a process that is well-known in AD. There are no FDA approved therapeutics for TBI. Control of miRNAs may have potential.
This work was originally published in Frontiers Neurotrauma
Penetrating Ballistic-Like Brain Injury Leads to MicroRNA Dysregulation, BACE1 Upregulation, and Amyloid Precursor Protein Loss in Lesioned Rat Brain Tissues
Bharani Thangavelu, Bernard S Wilfred, David Johnson, Janice S Gilsdorf, Deborah A Shear,
and Angela M Boutté
(https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.00915/full)