Animal study · Supplements / medicine · 1 Oct 2026
APOE4 changed brain-vessel support cells in human tissue models; blocking a scar signal reversed part of that in aged mice
Source: Mount Sinai / Cell and Cell Stem Cell
What the research found
Study (human tissue models, postmortem brain, and mice). Joel W. Blanchard and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai report two papers carried by ScienceDaily on 1 October 2026. In Cell (24 September 2026; doi 10.1016/j.cell.2026.08.058), Braxton R. Schuldt and colleagues mapped gene activity in human brain blood-vessel cells and found that APOE4 pushed pericytes toward scar-making myofibroblast-like cells, with more fibrosis and amyloid around vessels. Blocking TGF-beta signaling restored pericyte coverage and reduced that fibrosis and amyloid, including in aged APOE4 mice. In Cell Stem Cell (2026; 33(9):1459; doi 10.1016/j.stem.2026.08.001), Louise Mesentier-Louro and colleagues used stem-cell “miBrain” tissue. APOE4 tissue built up more alpha-synuclein. Cholesterol piled up in astrocytes and weakened lysosomal cleanup, and the protein spread to neurons. These are laboratory and animal findings, not a treatment tested in people with Alzheimer disease. Educational notes.
Evidence level: Animal study. Results in animals or cells often don't carry over to people.
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