Key points from article :
Scientists uncover mechanism that might help prevent the build-up of tangles of proteins commonly seen in dementia.
Amyloid and tau proteins in Alzheimer’s disease form ‘aggregates’ that can irreversibly damage the brain nerve cells.
Cells carry out a form of quality control to ensure that proteins are correctly folded and that misfolded proteins are destroyed.
In neurodegenerative diseases, this system becomes impaired, with potentially devastating consequences.
No medicines yet available that can prevent or remove the build-up of aggregates.
New mechanism reverses the build-up of aggregates, not by eliminating them completely, but rather by ‘refolding’ them.
Study stressed the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) - a membrane structure involved in synthesis and folding of proteins.
“-we might be able to find a way of treating some dementias." said the lead scientist, Dr Edward Avezov .
He speculates Scandinavian country people who regularly use saunas, may be at lower risk of developing dementia due to similar mechanism.
Research by University of Cambridge published in Nature Communications.
