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How a key Alzheimer's gene wreaks havoc in the brain

Nature Podcast

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How Does ApoE Work in Alzheimer's?

Oligodendrocytes use cholesterol to make insulating sheaths around neighboring neurons made of myelin. This myelination is important to allow neurons to fire properly. In the ApoE4 carrier's brain, this kind of nice ribbon-like cholesterol structure alone, the axon, is diminished. So by messing with cholesterol, seems to be linked to neurons having damaged myel and sheaths. Could decrease the speed of transmission between neurons, which might explain some of the cognitive deficits seen in Alzheimer's.

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