Neuroscientists in New York have made a major breakthrough in memory research that promises to revolutionize our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
A new study details how a structural cell that wraps around blood vessels may actually play an important role in the formation and storage of long-term memories.
According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 5.8 million American adults live with Alzheimer’s disease and other related dementias. And yet, our understanding of these diseases is still fairly limited, largely thanks to question marks over how memories are actually formed.
In the past, memory research was primarily focused on nerve cells and the networks they form. However, the brain is formed of many different cell types that support brain function as a whole. In the study, published in the journal Neuron on October 2, a team of researchers from New York University (NYU), in partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and the University of Cambridge, investigated the potential role of a small group of structural cells named pericytes in the formation of long-term memories.
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Pericytes, which can be found wrapped around capillaries and other small blood vessels, were already known to play an important role in blood vessel formation and maintenance, as well as maintenance of the blood-brain barrier and control of blood flow within the brain. However, this study suggests that they may also play a key role in long-term memory.
“This work connects important dots between the newly discovered function of pericytes in memory and previous studies showing that pericytes are either lost or malfunction in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia,” one of the study’s co-authors, Benjamin Bessières, a postdoctoral researcher in NYU’s Center for Neural Science, said in a statement.
The team began their investigation by looking at the production of a small protein called insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), which is produced in the brain during learning and memory formation. However, the exact source of this protein was previously unknown.
Using rats and mice, the team were able to identify which cells produced the highest concentrations of IGF2. Two candidates emerged: fibroblasts, which are involved in tissue formation, and pericytes. Only the pericytes showed a significant increase in expression of the gene responsible for IGF2 during learning exercises, and when this gene was removed from the pericytes, the animals’ long-term memories were significantly impaired. Removing this Igf2 gene from neurons and fibroblasts did not have the same effect.
The pericytes produced this IGF2 protein in response to activity from the brain’s neurons, indicating a chemical cross-talk between these two cell types.
“Cooperation between neurons and pericytes is necessary to assure that long-term memories are formed,” senior author Cristina Alberini, a professor in NYU’s Center for Neural Science, said in a statement. “Our study provides a new view of the biology of memory—though more research is needed to further understand the roles of pericytes and the vascular system in memory and its diseases.”
The team hope that further research in this area will help inform the development of new treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, like Alheimer’s.
“We now have a firmer understanding of the cellular mechanisms that allow memories to be both formed and stored,” Alberini said. “Understanding the cooperation among different cell types will help us advance therapeutics aimed at addressing memory-related afflictions.”
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