Researchers believe they are 'on the right path toward providing Alzheimer's patients and their families with a treatment that goes to the underlying cause of the disease.'

"It now appears that bryostatin promotes the synthesis of exactly those proteins necessary and sufficient for brain networks to consolidate memory," says the study's lead author, Daniel Alkon, MD, scientific director of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute. "This could be a real breakthrough for Alzheimer’s patients -- it’s like putting memory proteins in the brain's bank for later use."

Biochemically Enhances Protein Synthesis

Bryostatin already has been tested for safety in humans, which would allow an expedited path to FDA approval for use in Alzheimer's treatment. The drug has not yet been subjected to human tests for this purpose, however.

It has long been known that protein synthesis is needed for storing long-term memories, a function that Alzheimer's patients typically lose in the early stages of the disease. Bryostatin biochemically enhances precisely this storage capability.

Scientists at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), in collaboration with scientists at the MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) in Woods Hole, Mass., report that bryostatin can promote the proteins required to construct permanent memory.

Major Insights from Marine Snail

The latest research was conducted in the mollusk Hermissenda, a marine snail. By introducing bryostatin to the mollusk in the days leading up to a learning activity, a marked improvement was shown in long-term memory. The improvement was linked to a sharp increase in protein synthesis.

Although Hermissenda has a simple nervous system, its ability to learn associations has striking parallels to human learning, the scientists note.

"In addition to being able to precisely define the neural networks involved with the learning paradigms, Hermissenda offers the unique advantages of being able to undergo rapid transition between memory states, and being amenable to drug manipulations affecting memory acquisition and retention simply by immersing the animals in seawater containing the particular drug being tested," explains Alan Kuzirian, MBL associate scientist and co-author of the paper.

"The major insights were gotten in weeks from working with Hermissenda that would have taken months if the work had been done with any other organism," adds Herman Epstein, MBL investigator and study co-author.

Significant Step

Scientists at BRNI demonstrated in earlier studies that bryostatin can improve survival of mice genetically engineered to show the neurodegeneration found in Alzheimer's patients.

Also, bryostatin previously has been shown to activate enzymes that directly reduce production of the toxic proteins that are elevated abnormally in Alzheimer's disease and lead to the devastating degeneration of brain tissues.

"This is a significant step in our search for an effective Alzheimer’s drug," says Robert M. D’Alessandri, MD, president of the Rockefeller Institute. "We believe we are on the right path toward providing Alzheimer's patients and their families with a treatment that goes to the underlying cause of the disease."