The LPR3 protein, also known as low-density lipoprotein receptor-related receptor 3, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the LRP3 gene. It is a membrane receptor protein that is expressed in a wide variety of tissues, including the brain, heart, blood vessels, and immune system.

The LRP3 protein has a number of functions, including:

• Lipoprotein receptor: The LRP3 protein acts as a receptor for low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which are a class of lipids that transport cholesterol and other fats through the bloodstream.
• Regulation of gene expression: The LRP3 protein also regulates the expression of genes involved in a number of processes, including development, cell migration and immune response.
• Protection against Alzheimer’s disease: The LRP3 protein plays an important role in protecting against Alzheimer’s disease. The LRP3 protein has been shown to help control levels of beta-amyloid, a protein that accumulates in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease and is considered a key factor in the progression of the disease.

Alzheimer disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects memory, thinking and behavior. It is estimated that it affects more than 50 million people worldwide. The LRP3 protein plays an important role in protecting against Alzheimer’s disease.

In research carried out by the Bellvitge University Hospital in Barcelona, this protein was analyzed in healthy middle-aged people and people with Alzheimer’s, using samples from the human frontal cortex. In it, the researchers discovered that in patients with the disease, the levels of this protein were reduced, reducing the protective power that it exerts on Beta amyloids, the main component of the plaques that are found in abundance in the brains of people who suffer from the disease. suffer from the disease.

The LPR3 protein is a receptor capable of binding a protein called apoE, which is related to the appearance of the disease. This gene occurs in three forms: apoE2, apoE3 and apoE4, the latter being the one associated with a higher risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s. Researchers have discovered that another receptor, apoER2, promotes the increase of LPR3, and therefore its role as a regulator of amyloid plaques.

People with Alzheimer’s disease have lower levels of LRP3 protein in the brain than healthy people, however, people with genetic variants that reduce LRP3 protein levels have also been shown to have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s.

Every year, more than 40,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s are diagnosed in Spain, described for the first time in 1903, and which is characterized by producing brain alterations due to the early accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain. , which are deposited around neurons causing neural damage, which causes cognitive impairment, disorientation, difficulty speaking and performing activities of daily living. Alzheimer’s disease is usually detected by a brain imaging study (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging), using biological markers to establish the presence of the proteins that cause the disease.

Research on the LRP3 protein and Alzheimer’s disease is ongoing. Researchers are studying how the LRP3 protein can be used to prevent or slow the progression of the disease.

The main research on the implications of this discovery is focused on the development of drugs that increase LRP3 protein levels in the brain, the use of genetic engineering to correct genetic variants that reduce LRP3 protein levels, and gene therapies. that allow genes that encode the LRP3 protein to be introduced into the brain.