Neurodegenerative diseases, the term makes the scalp tingle just by sounding.
It refers to a series of diseases in which the degenerative damage of nerve cells leads to a gradual loss of nervous system function, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and ALS.
Regrettably, there is currently no cure for these diseases, and some of the therapies available are mainly aimed at reducing symptoms and slowing the progression of the disease.
Many people have heard of this disease, but few know how deadly they are.
In fact, scientists have been looking for ways to treat these diseases, but so far, with little success.
However, an exciting study recently published in the journal Nature by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, may bring new hope for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
In this study, they discovered a super-large molecular weight protein complex called SIFI, which plays a key role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
This complex has two main functions: to clean up the aggregated protein clumps and then turn off the stress response triggered by the protein clumps.
Interestingly, part of the SIFI complex is an E3 ubiquitin ligase called UBR4, which recruits specific signals to clear protein aggregates within cells.
So why do protein aggregates cause so much damage to nerve cells?
In the past, scientists have thought that these aggregates would kill brain cells directly, but the latest research shows that this is not the case.
The researchers found that these aggregates inhibited the silencing process of the stress response, which is the root cause of brain cell death.
Interestingly, the researchers also found a drug called ISRIB that acts as an inhibitor of the stress response and has been shown to improve memory and reduce age-related cognitive decline in mice.
What's more, in a mouse model of neurodegenerative diseases, nerve cell survival was promoted only by drug silencing in response to stress, even if aggregated protein clumps were not cleared.
Professor Michael Rapé said they are working to find a new therapy that can shut down the stress response while keeping the cells clean up of protein aggregates, with the hope of treating neurodegenerative diseases.
Overall, this study not only unlocks some of the mysteries of neurodegenerative diseases, but also gives us a glimmer of hope.
Perhaps in the near future, the medical profession will be able to treat these incurable diseases in a completely new way, so that patients can regain their health and happiness.
Bibliography:
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06985-7
Source: International Science WeChat public account (ID: guojikexue)
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