ALZHEIMER'S CURE TEAM'S GOAL.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

One scientist's curiosity may soon lead to the cause of -- and a cure for -- a devastating affliction that affects millions of people.

It's his curiosity about the way the brain works that has earned Dr. David Teplow of Tarzana and a group of scientists a $7.9 million grant to continue their groundbreaking research on Alzheimer's disease.

``The main reaction I had was joy and excitement that we have the financial support that we need to be able to do the work,'' said Teplow, a neurologist working at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. ``We want to be able to do science. We want to be able to do our work, to cure diseases, and we can't do that without the government.

``The disease is tragic for those who are affected by it, but I'm committed on working on important biological problems.''

It is an exciting prospect for Teplow, who has teamed with Gal Bitan, an assistant professor of neurology at UCLA, as well as a biology and physics professor from MIT, a chemist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a physics professor from Boston University.

All will work together to determine how brain proteins stick together abnormally to cause Alzheimer's disease.

Named for Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German physician who a century ago isolated brain-cell abnormalities in a woman who suffered from dementia, Alzheimer's now affects 4.5 million Americans, 500,000 of them from California. The disease is associated with progressive memory loss.

Teplow's grant was awarded by the National Institution on Aging, and experts in the field said it couldn't have come at a better time. Federal funding could decrease this year from $652 million to $645 million under President George W. Bush's plan, said Dr. Debra Cherry, associate executive director for the Alzheimer's Association.

Cherry said that drop in funding signals that the disease has fallen off the federal government's radar at a crucial time.

``People are going to be very startled at the numbers.'' Cherry said. ``As the baby boomers start aging, the numbers (of people with the disease) are going to triple.''

That's why funding for continued research is imperative, she said.

``This is exciting research,'' she said of Teplow's team. ``It could lead to a cure for a disease we once thought was incurable.''

Teplow and the team already have published several reports on their findings, which include how certain proteins clump together to form a sticky plaque in the brain, which interferes with cells' ability to communicate. Teplow's researchers suspect that structural changes in the proteins make them poisonous and lead to Alzheimer's. They hope to unravel how the proteins form these toxins, and translate their findings into creating and testing of new drugs to treat the progressive and incurable disease.

The grant will help Teplow and the team move forward with their research, which includes using in-depth computer simulations and a technique known as light scanning to delve deep into the way the protein acts.

``The really exciting thing about it is that I've brought together this group of people, all of whom are experts in the field, all of whom believe the synergy will create progress in finding a cure to Alzheimer's,'' Teplow said. ``I think for the first time in 100 years, we really are in a position to do clinical trials.''

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

HOW TO HELP

The Alzheimer's Association will hold its annual Memory Walk on Oct. 7 at Hollywood Park. For information, call [phone] or see www.alz.org/mw. For information about Alzheimer's, call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Box:

HOW TO HELP (see text)