GENE FRAGMENTS PUT IN MICE CREATE ALZHEIMER'S-LIKE CHARACTERISTICS

A fragment of a human gene made mice develop brain abnormalities like those seen in Alzheimer's patients, making the animals useful for studying the human disorder, researchers reported Tuesday.

"We have in the mouse brain what one would expect to see if mice got Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Jon Gordon, a professor of geriatrics and adult development at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.The abnormalities included protein-bearing deposits called plaques, nerve cell features called neurofibrillary tangles and brain cell degeneration.

The mice also showed abnormal behavior, Gordon said.

The animals should be useful in developing better ways to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in humans and in testing potential therapies, he said. A firm diagnosis of Alzheimer's generally is made by examining brain tissue after death.

Gordon presented the work in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature with Gerald Higgins of the National Institute on Aging and Shigeki Kawabata of Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in Tokyo.

"I think this is very exciting work, and I think it's a real step forward in research related to Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Donald Price of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore.