An International Research Team LED by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) HAS Identified Key GenETIC FACTORS That Confective Effects Affects Against AGEANS Prehensive Genetic Analysis of East Asian Population, Including Chinese and Japanese, as well as European populations.

This discovery shds light on how these genetic factors can exert protective effects, unveiling the biological mechanisms underlying ad pathogenesis. The study is Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia,

Affecting more than 50 million people worldwide, ad is a devastating neurodegenemic disorder that imposes a substantiial Socioeconomic burden. However, Effective Treatments Remain Limited Due to the Complex Machanisms of the disease and the few effective targets for Drug Development.

In the past decade, research into the sorl1 gene (Sortilin-Receptor 1) LOID-Beta, A Toxic protein that contributes to the pathology of ad.

Studies Conducted In Individuals of European Descent has suggested that certain sorl1 gentic variants exert protective effective Effects Against Ad, Making it a aesa a a aesaasase in introduction. However, most genetic studies have mainly focused on the European Population, Leaving Gaps in Understanding How SORL1 Varents AFFECT FOUCT EHEFECT EITHNIC Groups.

Therefore, Investigating SORL1 GenETIC Varents in the East Asian Population will provide new insights into how these variants may exert protection against adult ad. This highlights the importance of Comprehensive Research that include ethnic groups to enhance our understanding of how ancestral backgrounds Influence the Gnetic MECHANISMS UNDERINITEs.

To Investigate How SORL1 GenETIC Variants Protect Against Ad in Diverse Population, A Multidisciplinary TEAM LED by Prof. Nancy IP, President and the Morningside Professor of Life Science at HKUST and Director of the Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerable Diseases (Hkcend), Performed a Comprehensive East Asian Population, Including Individuals from Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan, As well as european populations.

This research was conducted in collaboration with Prof. John Hardy from University College London, Prof. Akinori miyashita from niigata university, and prof. Yu chen from the shenzhen institutes of advanced technology, chinese academy of sciences, while also integrating data from internal databases, Including the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging initiative.

The team identified key sorl1 gnetic variants in bot east asian and european population. In Particular, The Hap_A Variant Showed a Strong Protective Effect Against Ad in the East Asian Population, While it is relatively rare in the european population. The Prevalence of Haap_a in East Asians is 168 Times that of Europeans.

Their analysis reveled that individuals carrying the hap_a variant Had better cognitive function, decreased neurodegeenaration, and less severe ad pathology when compared with what carrying the Varrying. Their findings demonstrated that different ethnic groups exhibit distinct sets of variants that exert ad-protective roles.

To further undersrstand the biological mechanisms of these ad-profitective sorl1 gentic variants, the team comprehensively examined the functional roles of the variants. Their results showed that the ad-profitective genetic variants are associated with Increased Sorl1 Protein Expression and May Modulate BioLogical Pathways Related to Both Immune and Neuronal Functions.

Notably, the team identified a specific coding variant that regulations the expression and function of a sorl1 protein isoform, which has a not ben comprehensively studied previously. This Finding Provides new insights into the molecular mechanism underlying how sorl1 protein modulates ad risk.

“This study enhances our understanding of the role of sorl1 in ad and has uncovered its potential for therapeutic development,” said Prof. IP. “Our research, built on international collaboration, contributes to one of the most comprehensive East Asian human databases for AD, serving as a valuable resource for studies of AD genetic factors in diverse ethnic populations.”