Health · Medical Research · 4 hrs ago
Study links APOE4 to scarring around brain blood vessels
APOE4 is a common gene variant that raises a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease, though many carriers never develop the illness.
Researchers examined brain blood vessel cells from 220 people and found that people with two copies of APOE4 had fewer cells that help stabilize vessels and more cells that produce scar tissue.
In lab-grown models of human brain tissue, support cells called pericytes began changing into scar-producing cells.
These cells make fibronectin, a protein involved in wound healing.
When researchers blocked cells in the models from making fibronectin, amyloid buildup fell.
Amyloid-beta buildup is considered an early sign of Alzheimer’s, so the findings offer one possible link between APOE4 and the disease.
The study does not establish that this process causes Alzheimer’s in people.
A study links the APOE4 Alzheimer’s risk gene variant to changes in cells that support blood vessels in the brain.
Researchers found fewer pericytes and more scar-producing myofibroblasts in people with two copies of APOE4.
In stem-cell-grown brain tissue models, pericytes carrying two copies of APOE4 began taking on myofibroblast characteristics.
Preventing cells in the models from producing fibronectin reduced amyloid accumulation.
The findings suggest scarring around small blood vessels could be one part of how APOE4 increases Alzheimer’s risk.
- Who
- Researchers led by neuroscientist Joel Blanchard of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
- What
- A study links APOE4 to changes in cells around brain blood vessels and to scar tissue production.
- When
- The study was reported September 24; the article was published October 12, 2026.
- Where
- The research examined human brain vasculature and stem-cell-grown models of human brain tissue.
- Why
- Researchers are investigating how APOE4 may make the brain more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Researchers examined more than 3,500 people, including some with two APOE4 copies who had not developed Alzheimer’s.
The study linking APOE4 to changes in brain blood vessel cells was reported in Cell.
- Atlas size
- 66,000 cells
- Atlas participants
- 220 people
- Risk variant
- APOE4
- Scar-producing cells
- Myofibroblasts produce fibronectin
- Study journal
- Cell
What people are saying
If you had a room of 10 people with Alzheimer’s disease, and you asked how many of those people have the APOE4 allele, six of them would
The prevailing thought in the field is basically that the Alzheimer’s disease is so bad that the blood vessels break down
But we wanted to ask the question: Is it the other way around?
Sources
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