Off the shores of Waikiki in Hawaii, the invasive species Bugula neritina—a colonial animal that grows in bushy tufts and is often mistaken for seaweed—has taken hold, just as it has along the Pacific Coast, Eastern seaboard and Gulf Coast.
Despite the environmental havoc the pest species brings, the pervasiveness of this sea moss could provide a breakthrough in the treatment of one of the most devastating and costly diseases of modern times, J. Steven Alexander, a professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, tells Business Report in its latest Trends in Health Care issue.
Alexander and his colleagues have discovered that a byproduct of Bugula neritina may hold a key to developing a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, the most prevalent form of dementia. It’s a devastating affliction that affects memory and cognition, and “robs people of their identity and their personality,” as Alexander puts it.
Working with Boston-based Aphios Corp., Alexander’s research has found that an oral form of the drug, Bryostatin-1, originally designed to treat cancer, seems to reverse Alzheimer’s in mice. Although Bryostatin-1 was not an effective cancer drug, it has a positive effect on cognition. The drug acts on neurons as well as blood vessels.
“It stabilizes the vascular system against the inappropriate penetration of the brain by inflammatory immune cells,” explains Alexander, who adds that disturbances of the neurovascular system contribute to brain diseases beyond Alzheimer’s, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
“There are a lot of related conditions that experience a disturbance of blood vessels in the brain,” Alexander says. “There are two important things going on. One is the mechanism through which the amyloid formed is blocked, and second, the blood-brain barrier that prevents inflammatory immune cell penetration into the brain is destabilized, and that’s a big problem.”
Although Bryostatin-1 could likely be translated to clinical trials quickly, he says the cost remains prohibitive, as divers must collect the sea moss and large quantities are needed. Developing an affordable form of the drug is paramount, he adds. Yet Alexander is optimistic about the drug’s future.
“It’s a terrible invasive species, but maybe it can be put to good use,” he says. “We are trying to clean up the environment and simultaneously develop source material for Alzheimer’s.”
Alexander is one of several LSU scientists working on finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Read the full story. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
