Possible neuroprotective effect of a curry ingredient

The molecule on the left is (1E,6E)-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione, better known, for obvious reasons, as curcumin (C₂₁H₂₀O₆), the active ingredient in the curry spice tumeric. It has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and, if a recent study is anything to go by, is also anti-amyloidogenic.

A team of researchers at UCLA’s David Geffen Medical Centre an the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System has obtained evidence that curcumin may help the immune system clear amyloid plaques, which are characteristic of Alzheimer’s, from the brain.

The team, led by Milan Fiala, isolated macrophages from blood samples taken from Alzheimer’s patients and healthy controls. The cells were cultured and treated for 24 hours with a curcumin-derived drug. Amyloid-beta protein was then introduced into the cell cultures.

“Curcumin improved ingestion of amyloid beta by immune cells in 50 percent of patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” says Fiala, “demonstrat[ing] that curcumin may help boost the immune system of specific Alzheimer’s disease patients.”

These preliminary data seem promising, but the sample size is tiny – only 6 Alzheimer’s patients were enrolled in the study. However, previous work has shown that curcumin can inhibit the formation of amyloid-beta plaques and disaggregate plaques in mice with advanced accumulations of the malformed protein. Nor can it be a mere coincidence that India, where curry is staple, has one of the lowest rates of Alzheimer’s in the world.

Another recent study provided some evidence that Cabernet Sauvignon may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. Would anyone like to join me for a chicken jalfrezi accompanied with a bottle of red wine?

Related posts:

• Some of my publications on Alzheimer’s
• An apple a day keeps amnesia at bay
• Protein degradation & neurodegeneration
• Vaccine reverses cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s
• New PET method may enable early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s

Researchers confirm the existence of immunological synapses

Initiation of an immune response requires interactions between cells of the immune system. Fragments of proteins (called antigens), from viruses or bacteria that have entered the body, bind to proteins on the surface of antigen-presenting cells, which then interact with T-cells. This interaction enables T-cells to recognize the antigen, and induces T-cell activation, so that an attack on the invader can be mounted.

Interactions between immune system cells in culture are mediated by structures called immunological synapses. Many researchers believed that these structures were artifacts produced by experimental conditions, and doubted that they existed in live animals. 

Now, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, confirm the existence of immunological synapses in vivo; they report their findings in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Pedro Lowenstein and his colleagues found evidence for the immunological synapses while investigating how the immune system clears astrocytes infected with adenoviruses from the mouse brain. 

Synapses between immune system cells are characterized by the formation supramolecular activation clusters (SMACs). These clusters form between receptors on the surface of T-cells and major histocompatability complex (MHC) proteins, on the surface of antigen-presenting cells, to which fragments of viral or bacterial proteins are bound. SMAC formation involves a rearragement of the actin cytoskeleton and the activation of signalling pathways which result in changes in gene expression. 

Lowenstein’s team used antibody staining on brain tissue from mice to confirm that SMACs formed during the brain’s immune response to the adenovirus.

I think that neuro-immunological synapses may also exist. As their name suggests, these would mediate communication between the nervous and immune systems.