Institute on Aging

Newly Discovered Gene Variants Link Innate Immunity and Alzheimer's Disease

Three new gene variants, found in a genome wide association study of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), point to the brain’s immune cells in the onset of the disorder. These genes encode three proteins that are found in microglia, cells that are part of the brain’s injury response system.  The study is an international collaboration of four AD research consortia that analyzed DNA from 85,000 subjects. The results are reported online this week in Nature Genetics.

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Full Nature Genetics Publication

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