Researchers at Saint Michael’s College and the University of Vermont have made a groundbreaking new discovery that provides a better understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease develops in the human brain.
Guided by previous research on spider brains, the scientists discovered evidence of a “waste channel system” in the human brain that internalizes waste from healthy neurons. They found that this system can undergo catastrophic inflammation, leading to degeneration of brain tissue, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
With more than 50 million people affected worldwide, Alzheimer’s disease is among the leading causes of death in the US.
The findings, which have been published by The journal of comparative neurologyoffer a compelling new explanation for commonly described brain pathologies seen in Alzheimer’s disease, including amyloid beta plaques, tau tangles, and spongiform abnormalities.
With support from the Vermont Biomedical Research Network (VBRN), the research was conducted in collaboration between Dr. Ruth Fabian-Fine (Saint Michael’s College, UVM Robert Larner, MD School of Medicine), Dr. John DeWitt (UVM Robert Larner, MD School of Medicine, UVM Medical Center), Dr. Adam Weaver (Saint Michael’s College), and Saint Michael’s undergraduate research students Abigail Roman and Melanie Winters, both members of the class of 2025.
“The Vermont Biomedical Network is delighted to support Dr. Fabian-Fine’s research from his initial focus on animal neuroscience to the more recent and potentially groundbreaking emphasis on the cellular basis of human neurodegeneration,” said Dr. Christopher Francklyn, director of UVM. VBRN. “His exciting work and the excellent training he has provided to his university co-investigators epitomize what the NIH hopes to achieve with its national IDEA program.”
Neuroscientist Dr. Fabian-Fine and her team initially investigated the underlying causes of neurodegeneration in Central American wandering spiders that suffer from conditions similar to degenerative diseases in humans. Because the spider’s neurons were larger, scientists were able to better observe its brain functions. They quickly discovered a glial channel system that internalizes waste and suffers structural abnormalities in degenerating spider brains, leading to uncontrolled exhaustion and death of brain cells.
This discovery led Fabian-Fine, a pipeline researcher at the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health, to explore whether a similar system could be found in the brain tissue of rodents and humans, so she teamed up with neuropathologist Dr. DeWitt. at UVM’s Larner School of Medicine. . The collaborative venture led scientists to gather overwhelming evidence that neurodegeneration in the brains of humans and rodents may have underlying causes similar to those seen in the brains of spiders. The scientists’ report describes possible underlying causes of neurodegeneration that may offer a promising new avenue for the development of drugs that can address the structural abnormalities that lead to neurodegeneration.
Dozens of student researchers from Saint Michael’s College contributed to the multi-year research that laid the foundation for this breakthrough. The experiments were conducted at Saint Michael’s College, the University of Vermont Medical Center, and the UVM Biomedical Shared Resource Center.