University of Virginia research provides better understanding of Alzheimer’s, epilepsy

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — Researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine have discovered functions of structures in the brain that could help understand and treat several neurological disorders.

According to a release from the university, Harald Sontheimer, PhD, chairman of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience, and his team — led by Bhanu Tewari, PhD — discovered that problems with “perineuronal nets” in the brain could be causing neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and schizophrenia.

The new UVA research found that these nets play a critical function as barriers that allow for neurons to communicate correctly. When they were disrupted in lab mice, it resulted in seizures similar to what is seen in epilepsy and changes in the brain as seen in Alzheimer’s.

Although perineuronal nets were first discovered in 1989 by Camillo Golgi, these findings offer scientists new opportunities to explore the development of better treatments for several diseases that can be incredibly harmful to the human brain.

“It is remarkable that over a century after these structures were first discovered we are finally uncovering  how important they are for normal brain function,” Sontheimer said. “As these nets are readily attacked by enzymes that are released in conjunction with inflammation, this discovery will help us reevaluate the impact that tissue inflammation may have on neuronal signaling.”

Sontheimer and his collaborators at UVA and Virginia Tech have published their findings in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience. The research team consisted of Tewari, AnnaLin M. Woo, Courtney E. Prim, Lata Chaunsali, Dipan C. Patel, Ian F. Kimbrough, Kaliroi Engel, Jack L. Browning, Susan L. Campbell and Sontheimer.

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