U.S. scientists find 3 molecules that could help fight Alzheimer's

Jul 25 2005

A team of scientists at the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, say they have identified three molecules that appear to stop a key culprit behind Alzheimer's disease.

According to their findings, each of the three molecules protects a protein called "tau," which becomes hopelessly tangled in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's.

Apparently the tau protein is normally present in healthy brains, but is somehow corrupted during Alzheimer's disease, forming neuron tangles that are one of the hallmarks of the disease.

The team found that the problem is caused by an enzyme called CDK5, and researchers were able to find three small molecules out of a library of 58,000 that were able to protect the protein from the enzyme.

Ken Kosik, who is co-director of the Research Institute says this discovery could help produce drugs to effectively treat Alzheimer's disease.