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Breakthrough in Dementia Research Offers New Treatment Path

A recent study reveals that neurodegenerative diseases may be treated by targeting the cellular stress response, rather than protein clumps.

Alzheimer's protein aggregates around brain cells
An illustration of a brain cell in a person with Alzheimer's disease, showing the accumulation and clumping of tau proteins (blue squiggles) in the cytoplasm of brain cells. Protein clumps, also known as aggregates, are thought to lead to cell death and dementia. New research suggests that such clumps may not cause brain cell death directly, but rather throw the cell's response to stress off balance so that it never gets turned off. Credit: the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health
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Overview

  • UC Berkeley researchers discover that neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's may not be caused by protein clumps, but by a failure to turn off the cell's stress response.
  • A new drug that forces the stress response to shut down has shown promise in rescuing cells mimicking early-onset dementia.
  • The study introduces a large protein complex named SIFI, which cleans up protein clumps and turns off the stress response.
  • This discovery challenges the conventional wisdom on neurodegenerative diseases and opens up new avenues for treatment.
  • Further research is needed to explore the role of stress signaling in more common neurodegenerative diseases.